I am also adopted and don't know either parent. I have wondered the same thing. I hope they ask more questions on family history than they did in the 70's. All I got from vital statistics was their nationality.

My brother and I both have had blood clots, with no known genetic blood clotting factors in either of us, but we both have separate conditions that happen to increase the risk for blood clots so it's more related to that than us being family, I believe.

Even if you did know your family history, it wouldn't necessarily mean long term anticoagulants. Lot of times the issue is more a person's blood clotting risks vs family history.

I think it's more a curiosity vs importance.

I agree, I don't think a family history is particularly important in determining long-term anticoagulation, because that's based on the patient's own experience an ongoing risk factors. I'm sure it's not completely unheard of, but I've personally not heard of a doctor choosing to give someone life-long anticoagulation based on a family history. Where I've seen family history come into play is when a person who is presenting with symptoms, a doctor will more quickly look into the possibility of a clot if there's a known family history for it. But usually from that point on, treatment is determined by what happens to that particular patient.

That said, if you can easily ask your birth mother about clotting or any other medical history from her side, I would see that as a beneficial thing. However, try to remember that in your case, pregnancy alone is plenty of reason to have gotten clots - it's just unfortunately one of those things that can happen as our bodies prepare to have a baby. Even if you had a family history, you may have never had a clot if not for the pregnancy. Based on your history right now, the doctors obviously feel you are at a low risk for a recurrence. Obviously, though, if you get pregnant again, you'll want to take lovenox again during that pregnancy too.

Truth be told, there aren't any guarantees, and there's no efficient way to predict how high or low your risk is of getting another clot. Medical protocols are in place for who should receive long-term anticoagulation and who shouldn't. I know you feel like the bigger risk for you right now is getting another clot and not knowing it, but taking anticoagulation if you don't need can be just as risky, if not more. The longer someone takes anticoagulation the higher the risk is of a severe bleeding event, so it's not the "safety net" that a lot of people want to think of it as being. There is risk either way you go on this issue, and right now, based on you getting clots once during a provoked event, the safer option is for you to stay off anticoagulants and lead a normal life.

Honestly, the best thing you can do for yourself is to put it as far out of your mind as you possibly can. All you can do is take reasonably good care of yourself, don't be sedentary for long periods of time, stay well hydrated, keep generally healthy, and anything outside of that is, unfortunately, just out of your control. Control what you can, and let go of what you can't, or you'll drive yourself crazy. Try to refocus your energy to other things.

I'm another one who doesn't think family history is that critical, except maybe during initial diagnosis and maybe when trying to pinpoint a cause.

I mean, my husband's father has had DVTs, has FVL, and is a warfarin lifer. My husband's grandfather died of blood clots. My husband's aunt and at least one cousin also have FVL.

I have no family history of blood clots at all.

So, which of us do you think has clotted three times? Me or my husband? (Hint: It's not my husband.)

I agree that knowing there's a strong family history of clotting will prompt doctors to be more aggressive with doing scans on unprovoked leg pain or sending you off for a CT. But, once you're diagnosed, I don't think that has much weight anymore. At that point, it is YOUR history and they'll look closer at that than at family history.

Pregnancy is a known cause of clotting. I mean, for thousands of years, it was helpful for women giving birth with no medical support if they don't bleed out. Your body, maybe, just was a little *too* good at making sure you didn't bleed out.

Really, there's no formula for occurrence. If there were, I'm sure doctors would be using it to decide who comes off warfarin, who doesn't, who takes aspirin, etc. Take a deep breath, you are OK.

If the anxiety you're feeling right now is running your life, you need to shift away from worrying about clots and shift toward treating the anxiety. Anxiety is a tricky little bugger and it can follow you around for years if you don't tackle it head on. Get some therapy, get some meds, take up meditation or journaling. If you don't want to be this anxious a year from now (or ten), it's good to focus on that energy on beating the anxiety, not calculating odds.

Best of luck to you!

I just want to thank each and every one of you for your replies. I feel so much better now and have decided anxiety seems to be the bigger problem I seem to be facing right now and I've decided my focus should be on tackling that!

You have all been such a help to me since my diagnosis and I couldn't have made it through without this board. I just want to express my gratitude for you taking the time out of your days to help someone else. It's priceless.

Arat, you're so sweet, and I really hope that you're able to successfully get control of the anxiety soon. We've all been there, so we know how it feels. If I could save anyone all that stress I felt early in my recovery, I would do it. Recognizing that anxiety is a problem and dealing with it however is the right way for you is a good start. It's just through time and experience with this stuff that I finally figured out that the energy I spent trying to figure the "puzzle" out was really energy not well spent.

So, focus as much as you can on enjoying your little one and that's the best thing ever to have as a distraction from health issues. I hope you'll be feeling much better soon!