Stuttering may occur to people who do not have a family history. Some people who stutter are not "born with it" and there isn't much to suggest a brain or mental defect causes this. I'm not a scientist and I don't know if there is even a "gene" you could put in a punnit square. BUT I do know Two people who don't stutter somehow have offspring that DO stutter. Stutterers will be born of fluent people even if stutterering adults all decided to never have kids. If the subject comes up you shouldn't decide whether you and your partner have a kid based on anyone else's reasons. This is not a deadly defect. People judge us all day long. Not every woman who walks by you will be judging you for your stutter many aren't thinking of any particular man at the time. The world we live in is such that women have to walk around vigilant and be skeptical of pretty much any man that's out of context for our day & trying to get personal. It's difficult to explain but I only met my partner of almost a decade AFTER I consciously made an effort to not think about looking for a date but looking to just meet people. It takes SOME of the pressure off to not think about if someone will LOVE you and just worrying if they will want to chat. Eventually I met someone who wanted to chat so much that it was just practical to go home with her. I picked her because she has so many great stories that in public if I don't want to talk I just ask her about a great story and she entertains the public for me. She had never met anyone with a stutter before me and even though she didn't know much about me she gave me the time of day because when she spoke I was interested in her. If I'm talking in public she does this thing where she pats me on the back arm or leg. The more I get stuck the faster she pats and I can't explain it but if nothing else it really helps me because it reduces Sense of urgency once she has detected I'm getting stuck. It's very difficult but you know how many men are rude to women? You're already less of a loser than Those Dudes©. Those guys will hit on any woman and they operate on probability and the confidence seems to come from having no concern about rejection or how they are speaking to a woman. Like I said, you're already more considerate than this because you have to consider your speech. You truly think before you speak and your motive isn't to trick anyone it's likely just to get the words out like I do. You are bound to find her when you just do your thing and stop walking around worrying you are missing out. That energy followed me like a little rain cloud and I think in a way everyone I tried to speak to could see how I was feeling about myself. You probably wouldn't want to be with someone or have kids with someone who straight up told you you're defective! I'm sure those people are out there but they have no bearing on your truly personal life. You aren't missing out on people like that. I mostly moved to reply because online I can see some posts about men being rejected and not taking it well. There is this whole movement like woe as them women won't date them. Being "alpha" is often "extra" and may repel many women who are looking for a safe & honest partner motivated by love and commitment. If you are truly troubled by these things and none of the comments here ease your mind: having a stutter is so frustrating that having a therapist who got paid to get to know me and also paid to hear me complain has helped during difficult times in my life. Psychology Today's website allows you to look at various providers and I know it's bad but I can't pick a therapist based on their name and their skills I have to see their face too and the site helps me scrutinize like that LOL