[Eric in the Ozarks]

I had read that HD can occur every other generation.

[Dubya-M-Dees]

Where did you read that? The HD gene is dominant. This means that if you have it, you have it, if you don’t you don’t. If you have the gene, you WILL get HD. If you don’t, you won’t.

[muawiyah]

What happens with HD is that it is an autosomal recessive (if, in fact, it is a genetic disease). That means that you have to have an HD gene from your mom and dad both. If you only get one gene from one parent you won't have HD but you will be passing it on to 1/2 your descendants.

Again, they won't show symptoms of the disease unless your mate also passed along an HD gene.

And so on down the line.

Two ways to stop this gene ~ the ethical way which is don't have kids! The unethical way which is to go to an in vitro operator who will test fertilized eggs and toss any with the HD gene.

When the genetic discovery was made many people had already married (or engaged in other pair bonding arrangements) and they had kids so they stopped having kids.