I am not qualified to even speculate on that subject, but I have two young sons and I think about it alot. It might be genetic, or it might be that the social aspects of being raised by an addict rub off on you - I don't know, but I do know that this is a very widespread issue so regardless there are big risks that your children may fall into this.

Frankly, you can't control that, but talking to your 25 yr old about that took guts and was a very important thing to do. I too plan to share this with my boys when they grow up - partly to be accountable for my mistakes in life, but also to offer them a chance to identify a problem before it consumes them.

i would say like any addiction in can be passed down ....lots of SA's come from homes that have some form of addiction .
Good for you to share with your son, this would be a good time for him to get some help for his issues too....

I understand how you feel. I have a son in his 20s and he also looked at porn. However I talked with him and he was very open about it, not ashamed, but he fully understood my fears and he full well knows his father has been in recovery. I believe he is no longer viewing porn. I feel I have a good radar for this now and he seems very well adjusted in a long-term relationship with someone and has many other interests.
There are people who look at porn and don't ever get addicted to it. Keep the lines of communication open with him and understand that you really can't control his behavior, but stay open to listening to him.

I doubt genes had anything to do with it, but kids often see more than their parents think. My dad may have thought that he kept his porn collection well-hidden, but for years I was sneaking into it on a regular basis.

It is also quite possible that he found out about porn in a completely different way. It is all around and almost harder to miss than it is to find. What we parents need to be doing is offering our kids a reason to say no to the culture of pornography.

Fight The New Drug http://fightthenewdrug.org/#sthash.0RsYRS8Y.dpbs
is aimed at teens and young adults. It sends the message that porn kills love. Their website is very user friendly for teens and 20 somethings. You may want to peruse it yourself and then perhaps suggest your son take a look.

jimpoe,
I don't believe for one minute that being a porn addict or sex addict is in anyone's genes. Don't blame yourself. Now, if a father makes porn available to his son or glamorizes porn, then yes - he has drastically increased the probability that his son will become a sex addict. That's not the case with you so don't blame yourself. :)

Good point that I've thought about--
It's more to do with it being a pandemic addiction affecting so many from all different walks of life.
Hardly anyone is not affected at some point.
As many good therapists would tell us, we are ALL sexual creatures by nature and porn is the "'perfect poison" since it taps into this basic drive' especially within this last generation where it can be so easily accessed on phones.
All we can do is be ware of how it affects us & others.

Addiction is not hereditary in the sense of chromosomes or DNA. Addiction is a product of one's environment, and our own ability to process it and relate to it. For example, not every child of an alcoholic is an alcoholic. I'm not. Your child sees examples of porn that you leave out, and doesn't have the ability to fight it off. He becomes enraptured. My sponsor tells a story of how he got hooked on it, when on a playground in a park, and had a porn mag hidden in a National Geographic cover. The others looked, and giggled, laughed, and moved on to something else. When his eyes hit those pages, it was like he got hit by a bolt of lightning, he was enthralled, and couldn't turn away. That started it for him. Some have addicting personalities. Some people have a lack of natural defenses that others do have, which make them susceptible to sex addiction. Good luck. It's a good step that he's admitted it to you. Confide in him your story. Get him into a 12 step program and get him the help he needs. How cool would it be for him to only be in his mid twenties, and figure out his problem and be able to fix it before he ruins several marriages and have kids who hate him?