[Sportschosun Jung Yu-na] Actress Moon Ji-in shared how she was overcome with anxiety after being told during her pregnancy that there could be a genetic link to developmental disabilities in her fetus.
On the 12th, a video titled "Could my younger sibling's developmental disability be genetic? The reason I suddenly had to get a genetic test.." was uploaded to Moon Ji-in's YouTube channel.
The video showed Moon Ji-in, who is pregnant, visiting an obstetrics and gynecology clinic for a routine prenatal checkup. In the next scene, she said, "The doctor said many good things, but I was so shocked by the last thing he said that I couldn't even bring myself to film it."
Seeing Moon Ji-in appear with swollen eyes, her husband Kim Ki-ri asked with concern, "Honey, are you feeling really down? Are you very depressed?"
Moon Ji-in said, "I'm waiting for one test result. They told me it would take two weeks to come back," adding, "My doctor suddenly recommended that I also get tested for Fragile X syndrome (FXS)."
Moon Ji-in has a younger sibling with a developmental disability. She explained, "I was told there is a gene that can be inherited through the mother and may cause autism or developmental disabilities. My younger sibling has a developmental disability, and the doctor said that if the causative gene is on the mother's X chromosome, there is a higher chance it could affect a boy. Since I am my mother's daughter, the doctor also recommended testing for my son, 'Saengmyeong.' I was told there is a 25% chance it could be inherited, and 25% is not a small number at all." She revealed how anxious she felt.
Kim Ki-ri also could not hide his worry. He said, "There was no evidence that my mother-in-law or my brother-in-law has Fragile X syndrome, so I tried to stay calm." He added, "But when I looked up the related symptoms, I saw things like obsessive-compulsive tendencies, hyperactivity, and autistic traits. There were also physical features such as a long face, large ears, and a protruding jaw, and some of those seemed similar to my brother-in-law, which made me feel heavy-hearted."
Moon Ji-in said, "I was supposed to go on a prenatal trip after hearing the test results, but I kept feeling weighed down." She continued, "After appearing on a show with my younger sibling, most of the comments were supportive, but some people said, 'What about Kim Ki-ri's life? That's genetic.' It wasn't so much that I felt bad as that I ended up worrying about it too." She added, "I understand that my sibling's disability was acquired after a premature birth."
In the test results later revealed, the doctor explained, "Fragile X syndrome is normal, and the neural tube defect screening also came back as low risk."
After checking the results, Moon Ji-in let out a sigh of relief and said, "It came back normal, and they said it is not genetic." She then teared up and said, "I really suffered emotionally for 10 days. I am so grateful," moving viewers to tears.
Meanwhile, Moon Ji-in married comedian Kim Ki-ri in May 2024 and recently announced her pregnancy. The baby is a boy, and the due date is in August.
jyn2011@sportschosun.com
