well, y'all know.

She's AS and He's AS too. Should they still or shouldn't they? marry i mean.

save a brotha here.

No way, only if they plan to remain childless or adopt children in the future

I must be ignorant b/c I don't know what "AS" is. Please tell me.

AS means sickle cell carrier. This person doesn't exhibit the traits of sickle cell disease, but if she copulates with a sickler or someone with the same genotype, then some of the children will be sicklers, who will experience a life of tremendous pain and bad health and eventually die young.

If you are a sickle cell carrier in love with another sickle cell carrier, then please make up your mind to adopt. (We have many sickle cell carriers in West Africa because they happen to have stronger resistance to malaria!)

Seun:

AS means sickle cell carrier. This person doesn't exhibit the traits of sickle cell disease, but if she copulates with a sickler or someone with the same genotype, then some of the children will be sicklers, who will experience a life of tremendous pain and bad health and eventually die young.

Correction Seun, sicklers do not necessarily die young. I have it from a reputable source that the ex-governor of Kaduna, Makarfi (I'm assuming he's an ex - been out of Nigerian politics for a while) was/is a sickler.

Abeleon - If two sickle cell carriers produce offspring then there is a 50% probability that any single offsrping of theirs will be SS. I do not know what your case is but it is highly inadviseable to bring a Sickler in this world. The result is endless emotional trauma, pain and misery for the SS offspring(s) and even for the family (altho they have it easy) , Some people are lucky and life is not so bad but don't take the chance - especially since its not your life you're playing with.

Long story short: its bad. There are clinics that can advise you on the issue anyway but please please be careful not to give birth to an SS,

well,
i know the chances of having an SS for a child is 25%. but what about the remaining 75% chance of NOT having?
i don't think it's end of the world for the two in love. and even if they have the child, it can be managed well. i know a girl who's SS but you couldn't know unless you were told. i also know a family of five kids with none SS though both parents were AS.

i don't think it is reason enough to kill a marriage, but i also don't surport causing endless pains to kids who could escape it. like a friend said, why fight a war if it can be avoided?

hmm, what's my position sef? i'm beginning to lose it, or, ?

It's just not worth the risk. If your love is too strong for you to break up over this issue, then why not just adopt kids?

but you know that ain't no joy or experience on earth like carrying one's child in your womb or knowing this little cute thing in your hand came alive through your seed. absolutely no other, and yes the love's way past break now.

As a geneticist, my advice is that every pregnant woman should be screened between 12-20 weeks for any foetal abnormalities espeacially sickle cell carriers. Then both patners have a choice on whether to have the baby or terminate the pregnacy. The ethics of such a situation am sure will continued be argued by some. Most pregnancies with problems especially developmental problems will miscarry naturally. But some survive and can be detected when screened and then a choice can be made. If termination(abortion) is not acceptable to some, adoption is an alternative.

And let's face it, most marriages are not solid/enjoyable enough to warrant such a great risk.

there is a 25% chance of the child not being SS. My parents are both AS and we are four luckily none of us have SS, so there is a chance but i dont think it should be risked.

well, y'all know.

She's AS and He's AS too. Should they still or shouldn't they? marry i mean.

save a brotha here.

In a plain and simple word, AS and AS cannot marry each other because there would surely be an SS amongst their kids, it might even be the first child just like in my Family.

My mum is AS and Dad too is AS, my elder brother, the first born is a Sickler (SS) but he is 26yrs old now and he is very strong, you cannot tell dat he is a sickler except he tells you that he is one.

It was very worse for him when he was still young sha, sometimes, he stays in the hospital for months, sometimes he get leg pains which will make make him not be able to use his legs to walk for weeks or months, our dad was always rushing him around so dat he wouldn't die, he was always getting blood transfusions, men, it just wasn't easy sha.

He also intends marrying an AA wife, marrying AA can only result to AS, no SS can turn up except if AS and AS get married and an SS will come up.

kokoshaggy:

Correction Seun, sicklers do not necessarily die young. I have it from a reputable source that the ex-governor of Kaduna, Makarfi (I'm assuming he's an ex - been out of Nigerian politics for a while) was/is a sickler.

Kokoshaggy, you just happen to know just one of the very few sicklers who is very strong. It's not common and it still remains a risk. How many SS people will be lucky like Makarfi?

A risk is a risk.

Even when they are strong they still go through a lifetime of hospital visits and endless medications.

As per the chances, well i wont actually call it stupid to take the risk, afterall we have a 75% chance of not having a child with SS

It is not exactly certain now that the AS gene actually confers better resistance to Malaria, SS does because of the low oxygen tension in the numerous sickle cells (but they get sick frequently from it anyway)

Genentic counselling is an option but how many do we have in Nigeria and how affordable is it?

The couples will determine if their love is worth it to take the risk, let me assure you here true love is hard to find; been there and know it so it will be kind of hard for you to be counselled to relinquish it if you eventually find one.

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can AS vs. AS marriage, if there is a will there is a way; but they must be ready for the tasks and (un)eventualities ahead.

Abelon,
my dear you'll be taking a very big risk. you might think your love is very strong now but i tell you that love will be seriously tried if you eventually have to cope with a sickler.
there is no greater pain on earth than for parents to see their child/(ren) in severe pain and not be able to do anything about it. also there will be the added burden of guilt!
you will always say to yourself, then, "i could have avoided this."

now am i talking from the point of, if you have a sickler, which happens more often than not.
the good news however is that it can be prevented, even if you both get married.

there tests that can be done like imani said in the post above.

and it can be done in nigeria. at least i know it is done in LUTH.

it therefore means that every pregnancy must be screened early enough for you to be able to take a decision on it if it turns out bad.

with this pre-natal diagnosis you could go on to have normal kids.

then again if you believe in God and the powers of prayers and have very, very strong faith you could it a go. but only if you're sure its God thats leading you both. (this another issue entirely) 
bottom line is, you've got to enter into this if you must with your eyes wide open and have all information you possibly can.
don't think, i can't have a sickler[b] but think [/b] what if i have one.
goodluck!

the sickle cell affects mainy Blacks you hardly hear of it affecting other races,

Depending on where you live, there isn't as much emphasis on non-Blacks. In the U.S. that is because it was the BLACK PANTHERS and not the U.S. govt that originally started screening children and potential mates for AS etc. But, it affects non-black, i.e. Greeks and South Americans as well as some else previously highlighted.

Yah it affects those races as you said, it just more common among blacks, maybe due to lack of planning before marriage and stuff

Thank God for technology. The fact that you guys know your status, its an opportunity for you to tow the right path. Don't put yourself in such a misery. I have had neighbours that had sicklers, meeennnn, it was misery galore. I can assure you that by the time you face the misery, the little love you and you partner had/have would definitely diminish. Please make a right choice now.

Badman888:

Yah it affects those races as you said, it just more common among blacks, maybe due to lack of planning before marriage and stuff

The SS phenotype affects mainly black pple becos it developed primarily as the body's first line of defence against malaria which primarily affected pple of black african descent and those in malaria endemic areas.

Note: normal red cells have a lifespan of 120 days, enough time for plasmodium to incubate and proliferate in the blood, they destroy the red cells, the reason for the weakness and anaemia that occurs during a fever. SS patients have sickle-shaped red cells that have a life span of about 60 days, so the red cells break down much faster than the malaria parasites have time to incubate and proliferate in time to cause malaria. That's why most AS are specially resistant to malaria unlike AA phenotypes.

However the sickle shaped cells have trouble flowing through especially narrow arterioles and the general microcirculation in tissues, blood flow gets blocked frequently; the reason behind the excrutiating pains and anaemic symptoms of SS patients.

Managing an SS child is both emotionally and financially draining that is why it is ill-advisable for AS and AS individuals to get married. No love can be too strong to prevent you from thinking rationally about the future of ur family. At least 2 of my SS phenotype friends have died in the last 3 yrs. Both from wealthy homes and with no apparent physical symptoms. One died last month, just fell sick with a fever and never recovered!

Be ware!

yea that is the other stuff knew it long time before, kind off forgotten and didnt have time to start researching thanks davidlyan

From my own point of view, i think that if you have full knowledge of the implications of what you are about to do, yet you still go ahead and get married, you are not better than the devil.Because you are both coniving to bring forth a child that may suffer perpetually until the day he/she dies.
You are even worse than a murderer.

haba brushparke,

take it easy!i feel like you could take me apart and tear me into shreads now if you were seeing me. but remember, even if the bad thing happens more often than the good, it's not a concluded case that the bad must happen.

what do you say to gbenga_9ja up above,huh? miracles can still shele.

why would God bring people together and arrange things to be this diff, hard and painful?

sometimes, i wonder,

@ abeleon

If they marry, will they do genetic testing? Just wondering.

abeleon:

haba brushparke,

take it easy!i feel like you could take me apart and tear me into shreads now if you were seeing me. but remember, even if the bad thing happens more often than the good, it's not a concluded case that the bad must happen.

what do you say to gbenga_9ja up above,huh? miracles can still shele.

why would God bring people together and arrange things to be this diff, hard and painful?

sometimes, i wonder,

we have to be sure first that its God that brought them together.

also, bad things happen to "good" people everyday anyway, for reasons which we dont know.

chinani:

@ abeleon

If they marry, will they do genetic testing? Just wondering.

Any couple planning to marry must have genetic tests and not just for blood genotype. If they go ahead to marry, then they have to face the consequences of thier choices.  Most relationships, like someone said are not strong enough to last the challenges ahead. If AS couples marry, they can screen the foetus at each pregnancy to see if the unborn child will be okay. But be warned, it is a very emotional process.

;;

putting it like that, you have all figured out, don't you?

you make your post sound so final, wow.

i hear you, but it sounds to me like you are just talking from the point of view of someone angry for losing a loved one just like that. i could be hard, it is hard in fact i know. but,

have you tot about the fact that it is possible not to have an SS offspring at all?

murder?, huuuuuuuuuuuuu! you make me shuder.

@ Dakmanzero

I'm sorry for your loss.

me too!
very sorry indeed. you must have really loved her. i feel your pain.

@ abeleon,
you must listen to reason. or else, screening all the way is the only other way out.

As can marry As though not advisable.

It dosn't mean they will born SS all through.

They will have As, AA Ss as well so the issue of remaining childless or adopt a child does not arise.

yeah i like that.

a little ray of hope in this black room! there's hope, i understand it is not advisable, but it is not the end of the world.

not that i tell everybody to disregard, but my real question is, should it be the sole decision taker when it comes to our blooming of love?

if all ASs marry AAs, then eventually we will run out of AAs, don't you think?