Abigail Heringer Explains Why She’s Deaf For First Time
Bachelor in Paradise fan favorite Abigail Heringer is explaining to fans for the first time ever why she is deaf. She said it’s not something she has ever disclosed so she’s going to share now. Fans do know that because of her hearing loss, Abigail has a cochlear implant that allows her to hear. Keep reading to find out more about what led Abigail and her sister to be deaf.
Why is Abigail Heringer deaf?
Abigail Heringer has started a weekly Instagram video in which she talks about different aspects of being deaf. This time she opened up about why she and her sister are deaf. She also opens up about the possibility of her and Noah Erb’s future children being deaf as well.
Abigail first admitted she’s never talked about what caused her to be deaf before with fans. She said, “Both my sister and I have hearing loss due to what’s called connexin 26. While my mom and biological dad were hearing, they both carried this recessive gene. With this recessive gene, there was a one in four chance of Rachel and I being born deaf. And the odds just happened to work that way twice in a row.”
It was during kindergarten that Abigail’s family put her through genetic testing to try and discover what caused her to be deaf.
What is Connexin 26? Abigail explained it to fans saying, “Connexin 26 is the most common cause for a profound hearing loss. It’s non-syndromic, meaning that there’s usually no other medical issues with this mutation except hearing loss. My mom didn’t do any genetic testing before I was born.”
Will her children be deaf?
Abigail also opened up about the possibility that the genetic mutation could be passed on to her future children with Noah Erb. She said in order for that to happen and have the same one-in-four chance as her parents had when Abigail and Rachel were born, Noah would have to be a carrier for the recessive gene.
While the couple does not plan on having kids for quite some time, she said they have talked about whether or not they will do the genetic testing.
Abigail revealed that they will not. She shared that they talked about it and just decided it was not necessary for them. She continued, “A lot of parents opt to do it to help relieve any surprises or to even help them better prepare, but it was a personal choice to not do it. No matter how our child is born, deaf or not, we’ll handle it as a family and go from there.”
@abigailheringer what caused my hearing loss and if our future children will be deaf🦻🏼 #deaftiktok #hearingloss #cochlearimplant
Fans love Abigail and Noah together and are glad these two are planning for the future. Just recently it seemed Abigail was hinting to Noah about proposing when she did a viral ring pick challenge on TikTok.
Plus, Noah has shared the two plan to make a home base in Oklahoma sometime down the road.
What do you think about Abigail disclosing why she is deaf? Do you know anyone with this gene mutation?
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