Even before her son Brendon Cavainolo was born 16 years ago, Lisa Pleasants knew there was a 50-50 chance her child would have a degenerative eye disease that could rob him of his sight as he aged. She has two brothers and one cousin with X-Linked Juvenile Retinoschisis, which can pass from mother to son but only manifests in males. When Brendon was 3 months old, a pediatric ophthalmologist confirmed her fears. “That was a rough day,” Pleasants said. read more