Question 1

What is fetal microchimerism?

Accepted Answer

Fetal microchimerism is the presence of a child's cells inside the mother's body long after pregnancy. During gestation, fetal cells cross the placenta into the mother, where they can survive and persist in her blood, organs, and even her brain for decades.

Question 2

Do mothers keep their children's cells forever?

Accepted Answer

Often, yes. Studies have found male fetal cells in a mother's blood up to 27 years after she gave birth to a son, and male DNA in the brains of women who died in their nineties, meaning the cells can persist for most of the mother's remaining life.

Question 3

Can a woman have a Y chromosome in her brain?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if she has carried a son. In one autopsy study, 63 percent of examined women's brains contained male DNA left behind by a son, showing that fetal cells can cross the blood-brain barrier and remain there for decades.

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The Woman With a Y Chromosome in Her Brain