This is a common question to come up when someone finds out they are a carrier of a certain condition. It is natural to think back to the family history to figure out where this may have come from. However, most of the conditions we end up being carriers of are rare and/or are unlikely to have impacted any of our relatives because of autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. It is important to know that being a carrier is normal. We are all carriers for at least one genetic condition like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease. Usually, being a carrier means you do not have any symptoms of the condition, but your children could, if your partner is also a carrier. Since carriers are usually healthy individuals, most people do not know they are a carrier until they do certain blood tests that check for carrier status or they have a child with that condition.