How did I get FOP?

You were born with it. If your mother or father has FOP, you got it from them. But if they don't have it, then FOP was an accident of nature. Scientists call it a mutation. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

FOP is a genetic condition.

(You learn a lot of new words when you learn about FOP).

Every living thing has a set of instructions in its body called DNA. DNA works like a computer program. A computer program tells a computer what to do. Well, DNA has instructions which tell your body what to do.

These instructions are called genes.

There is a gene which tells your eyes to be BROWN--or are they BLUE?

Other genes decide what color your hair is, and how tall you'll grow. When you have FOP, one gene in your DNA is telling your body to make bones in your muscles.

So, how did you get FOP?

Your mother's egg and your father's sperm came together to make you. Your mother's DNA was in the egg and your father's DNA was in the sperm.

DNA is the reason that some things about you are like your mother and some things are like your father. If your parents don't have FOP, one tiny part of the DNA they put together changed. Your FOP was a mutation or change in the DNA you got from your parents. It just happened. It's nobody's fault.

If your FOP is because of a mutation, it's almost sure that your brothers or sisters won't have it.

Also, FOP is not contagious. Nobody can catch it from you.

Go the next chapter What Does it Do to Your Body?

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