What causes biliary atresia?
Biliary atresia is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts. It presents very early in life and requires urgent treatment.
In newborns with biliary atresia, bile ducts are missing, incomplete, blocked or damaged. This stops the flow of bile from the liver to the gallbladder and small intestine. Bile backs up and gets trapped inside the liver.
The information on this page is for:
- Parents of babies and children with biliary atresia or suspected biliary atresia.
- Young people with biliary atresia
- Family, friends, carers, and healthcare professionals.
On this page:
What causes biliary atresia?
We still don’t know exactly why biliary atresia happens. But lots of research has been carried out and doctors think it could be caused by a mixture of things, including:
- genes
- toxins in the environment
- viral infections
- an immune system response
- developmental issues
We know that parents often feel guilty that they may have, in some way, contributed to their child having biliary atresia. But there is no way that the condition could have been prevented. There is no evidence to suggest that biliary atresia is hereditary (can be passed on to children by their parents) or due to anything parents might have done or taken. Biliary atresia does not run in families and children with biliary atresia will not pass the condition on to their own children later in life.
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This content was last reviewed: July 2026
Our expert reviewers:
We would like to thank everyone who helped with creating and reviewing this page. Including Professor Mark Davenport, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, King’s College Hospital and Professor Deirdre Kelly, Professor of Paediatric Hepatology. And all our patient reviewers.
Find out how we make our patient information.
Everyone’s experience of liver disease will be different. Always talk to your specialist medical team for personal advice.
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