". . . My son was born, in October 1988, with a single gene mutation called Fragile X. Though virtually unknown to the general public, FX syndrome is the most common inherited cause of mental retardation, affecting, by some estimates, 100,000 Americans and 2 million people worldwide. One in every 250 women in the world is a carrier of Fragile X- without even knowing it, in most cases, until she gives birth to a defective child . . ."

Text by Paul Solotaroff for Men's Journal. More information about Fragile X can be found at www.fraxa.org