I wouldn't take back my 2 wonderful children (adults now) for anything! I didn't know I had narcolepsy while they were young. We took A LOT of naps together and they now hate the phrases "we'll see", "maybe later", or "probably tomorrow" because I never had the energy to do everything they wanted to do. It's really hard looking back and thinking of the things I missed out on all through them growing up, but there's PLENTY of things we did, memories we made, and the absolute love that you can't even imagine you have for them until you're a parent yourself. There's nothing else like it. We have conversations about it now and neither one of them feel like they should have had any better childhoods (and they are brutally honest with me about everything lol). I even raised my first born by myself for 4 yrs before I met my husband, and after my second he worked a lot so it was all on me quite a bit. In the end I would urge any person (narcoleptics included) to have children if they really want and are ready to have them.

Absolutely not! My 3 sons might have had a sleepy Mommy, but she had a much richer life with her children. Children will add mental stimulation that will help keep you alert in situations you find difficult now. At least it did for me. And believe me, I can fall asleep standing, driving and in the middle of a sentence! True. I would not let your sleep disorder steal the opportunity to have children.

Do you have support other than your wife or are you financially able to hire some support? I don't know how severe your narcolepsy is, so maybe talk to your doctor about this concern as well. Having kids isn't easy but they are such a blessing. I would never say don't have them because of narcolepsy. You may just need to get creative in how you care for them!

Definitely go ahead and have children! There are many treatments for narcolepsy. Although it is a lifelong condition, it doesn't need to run your life that long! My children are older, but I have my grandkids often. I have never had a problem. And I am the first person in my family to have narcolepsy. It was not passed down to me, nor did I pass it down to my children. Don't let this run your life.

Serenity, it is extremely tough knowing that something you have has been passed down to your children. I have multiple illnesses that can be hereditary. I didn't know this when I had my kids. My daughter has unfortunately inherited a lot of what I have and I feel unbelievable guilt over that, but I had no idea about any of that when I had her. It's hard watching her go through the same things I do, but at least I can help her in the sense of guiding her to the right doctors and knowing what to say and ask for the right tests through all of my trial and errors. I wouldn't wish the things I have on anyone, especially my own flesh and blood.
But....there is no guarantee that you'll pass anything on to kids, and there are things that people have that they are unaware of and have no symptoms themselves or are just carriers of certain genes that can be passed down. I've said many times in my years of being a parent and watching my daughter struggle that if I had know, I would have adopted instead of having my own. But when you adopt, there's no guarantee that child doesn't have something passed on to them from some relative anywhere in their blood line, and you still have to watch your child suffer through things. If someone truly wants children, unless there is a 100% guarantee that something they have their children will have, I wouldn't discourage them. There are so many what ifs in life that you can't control, and life is too short, that deciding to not do something that could be such a blessing, in my opinion, is not worth it.