‘This is why I have anxiety’: Doctor explains how your grandmother’s pregnancy shaped your brain before you were born

If you’re struggling with your mental health, don’t blame it on seasonal affective disorder or the shifting planets. Instead, consider checking in with your maternal grandmother.

According to a viral TikTok video posted by developmental psychologist Dr. Bonnie Goff, “The egg that ultimately made you was very likely in your biological mother’s ovaries in the womb of your grandmother.” The video, posted on Feb. 13, 2025, racked up nearly 150K likes and 3100 comments in one day.

You may have learned in health class that women are born with all the oocyte or egg cells they’ll need for their lifetimes. But what you might not have learned is that these eggs aren’t created by a woman’s mother, but rather her grandmother, who delivered her daughter (your mother) with all the eggs she would need (including the one that would someday make you).

This is information worth contemplating because, as Dr. Goff explains “We know that whatever was happening with your maternal grandmother while she was pregnant with your mom had effects on the expression of your DNA.”

@drbonniegoff If your grandma is still around, you should probably give her a call. ☎️ #Epigenetics #MindBlown #GenerationalScience #PsychologyFacts #AncestralHealth #DNA #ScienceIsWild #DevelopmentalPsychology #RussianNestingDolls #Genetics ♬ original sound – drbonniegoff

What is epigenetics?

Epigenetics is the study of how environmental influences and external factors affect the way genes are expressed without altering DNA; this particular process has been referred to as “ovarian intergenerational continuity.”

The idea that daughters, their mothers, and their grandmothers are all connected and were present — in one cellular form or another — for moments in life they never consciously experienced is a genetic bombshell that has people reexamining their mental health diagnoses and generational trauma.

Brit finds the news depressing, writing “My mom & gma both had very traumatic lives in poverty with abusive alcoholic husbands,” and Kat says, “Grandma lived through Yahtzi-occupied Poland as a little girl.”

For others, this information is just further confirmation of long-understood personal and familial truths.

The effects of pregnancy last long beyond delivery

As if pregnant women weren’t already aware of the importance of eating right and maintaining one’s health while carrying, epigenetics reminds us that a woman’s environment, stressors, and mental and emotional state also have the power to affect not just her children, but her grandchildren.

But where some might see this as a cause for concern, others have noted that they’ve seen positive traits handed down within their matrilineal line. A.J. says his family passed down the “opposite” of generational trauma, writing “We are happy and optimistic. We try to be kind and empathetic.”

And Maang recognizes this connection, having experienced it firsthand when meeting her granddaughter. She writes “When I first held her I was like, oh hey, I know you!”

Grandmother’s Day isn’t for another two weeks, but let this be your reminder to call early — and maybe to ask some pointed questions about what Grandma was up to while pregnant with your mom. Your grandmother and your mental health will thank you.

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