Genotype Compatibility in Couples and the Future of Their Children

Love is beautiful, and when people want to get married, one of the challenges they face is blood genotype because, at this point, they find out that they are both genotype AS. So the question is, “Can both of them still get married?” The simple answer is “Yes”. Why can't they get married when they are both humans and they are in love? They can get married and not give birth to a child with an SS genotype but then, they still have a 25% chance of giving birth to an SS child. https://media.snl.no/media/256930/standard_Homozygot.png

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Forget those drawings that you see which make you think that it is one in four children who will suffer from sickle cell anemia, that's not true, rather it means there is a 25% chance of having a sickle cell anemic child. One could give birth to three children that suffer from anemia, one could give birth to 4 children that will not suffer from it, and one could give birth to children with one of them suffering from anemia. It is not a numbers game, it is a percentage risk. So while love is blind just as beautiful, are you willing to play with your children’s lives?

Although science has improved and currently parents can decide on the genotype of their child before they are born, this is expensive and the majority of people cannot afford it. A good way to get this done without having an SS child is via pre-implantation genetic diagnosis such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) after which Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is performed on it to remove the SS embryos before implanting them back into the mother.

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While pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is expensive, there are other options like prenatal testing where the genes of the fetus at 10 to 16 weeks are tested. After testing, if it is seen that the fetus has the SS gene, the next step is to decide to either keep or terminate the pregnancy which can be traumatic especially when one has to terminate multiple times for the same reason.

Other options are donor sperm or eggs, adoption, or the couple can choose not to have children. It is better to pick any of these options than to end up bringing a life that suffers from sickle cell anemia. You will not forgive yourself, the child will not forgive you especially when they are going through the pain. Finally, it is not financially friendly because you might spend all you have just to keep the child you wanted alive.

Reference

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sickle-cell-disease https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007279.htm https://www.ucsfhealth.org/treatments/pre-implantation-genetic-diagnosis https://www.aun.edu.ng/index.php/campus-life/health-center https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482164/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sickle-cell-disease/