Asking The Right Questions Before Jumping To ‘WE DO’

We’ve watched a lot of people suffer the aftermath of not knowing their genotypes before saying ‘I DO’, but worst of all we’ve watched their kids pay for their ignorance. Sometimes we meet the right person after searching for so long and we’re so caught up in planning the perfect future with them that we forget to do the needful, we don’t ask the right questions. In my opinion the perfect first date questions should be; ‘are you up to date with your medical check ups?, 'what is your genotype’?Does your family have a hereditary disease I should be concerned about? They may not be conversation starters but it is important to get your facts straight before getting into a serious relationship. But we don’t ask these questions, we get so carried away in the bliss that is love and before we know it we’re married and then BOOM! baby number one is here and there’s no going back.

If you are lucky and your angel hasn’t been sleeping on his job, then your negligence doesn’t cost you. However,if you’re not so fortunate then your kids are most likely among the 5% of the world’s population who are carriers of the gene for sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder marked by defective hemoglobin. It inhibits the ability of hemoglobin in red blood cells to carry oxygen. Sickle cells tend to stick together, blocking small blood vessels causing painful and damaging complications.

Sickle cell disease is a teamwork meaning, the genes come in pairs, one set inherited from the mother andtheotherfromthefather.This usually happens when both parents are ‘carriers’ of the sickle cell genes or one parent has the sickle cell disease and the other is a carrier. There are six common blood genotypes in humans and only four out of these six are compatible.

Genotype AA is the universally compatible genotype that is, regardless of who they partner with, there is no possibility of them birthing a child with the sickle cell disease. The genotype AS is a carrier of the sickle cell traitmeaningtheydonothavethe sickle cell disease like the genotype SS, but carry the genes of the disease. Genotypes that carry an (S) for example AS, SC, SS are not compatible with each other.

In the past,treatment for sickle cell anemia was usually aimed at avoiding pain episodes, relieving symptoms and preventing complications. However, these methods of treatment do not cure sickle cell disease. As of now, stem cell or bone marrow transplants are the only known cures for sickle cell disease. Stem cells from a healthy donor are given through a dripintothevein.Thisisanintensive treatment that carries a number of risks, the main being a graft versus host disease; which is a life threatening problem where the transplanted cells start attacking the other cells in your body. Not to mention that this procedure is extremely expensive to carry out.

The Nigerian Netflix movie ‘ STRAIN’ shows the extent to which sickle cell affects not just the patient but the family at large. Experience and research have shown that people with the sickle cell disease tend to have a shorter life span and even then, they live on drugs and in pain.

So before you say ‘I DO’, do you know your genotype? It takes a second to know your blood genotype and save your children a lifetime of pain that comes with sickle cell disease.