1 way or the other we learn from each other like some1 once told me the youths walk faster buh the Adults know the way..
share ur xperience let other peepz learn from u

Permit me to present the story of our recent couples
at our Pre-implantation genetic programme at MART
as presented by the wife.
“John and I married when I was 31 and he was 33.
We had been dating for four years and many people
— including our parents — advised us not to marry,
as we were both AS. They were afraid that we would
have SS children.
“I read somewhere that for each pregnancy, our
chances of having an SS child was 25 per cent, 25
per cent for AA child 50 per cent for AS. Perhaps it
was foolish of us, but after long and anguished
debates, we decided to take the risk.
“It was only after we got married that I first met a
child who had the sickle cell disease. The five-year
old was the son of our next door neighbour. I saw him
having a crisis when I visited their flat. He was
screaming in pain, complaining about leg and joint
pains. His eyes were yellow and his chest was large
from an enlarged spleen. Perhaps if I had this
knowledge before I got married, I would have had a
rethink. From then on, I grew cold feet about
conceiving and bringing a sickler into the world.”
“After seeing our neighbour’s son go through a crisis,
and the suffering that not only he but the entire
family went through, John and I did not want to run
the risk of having a sickler. We had been married for
two years without really trying to have a baby when
we heard of Medical Art Centre which specialises in
infertility and various techniques in assisted
conception. A friend told us about them and
suggested we pay them a visit just to ask for their
advice and see whether they could help us.
“Our first consultation was with the Clinical
Coordinator. We explained to her that we did not
know whether we had infertility problem, as we had
not really been trying to get pregnant. Our problem
was actually the fear of bringing giving birth to a
sickler because of our genotype. We told her we were
wondering if they had any technique that could help
us.
“She informed us that the clinic had just begun a
programme called Pre-implantation Genetic
Diagnosis (PGD) with Polymerase Chain Reaction.
These two procedures are able to look at embryos
that had been fertilised via IVF and see which ones
are abnormal and normal and also see which ones
are AA, AS and SS so that only the normal embryos
which are also AA would be implanted to produce a
normal baby. The technique was in collaboration with
a PGD Center in the United States, we were told.
“John and I thought we were in a dream land. We
decided to sign up for it right away. When we started
the treatments, the clinic did a complete assessment
and found that both John and I had normal
reproductive profiles although they said I needed to
lose a little weight. The only thing they found was
that we were both AS.
“To get the PCR, we had to first go through the IVF
and ICSI, then the embryos were biopsied sent for
and the PGD using PCR which is the diagnostic
technique that can screen for the genotype, that is,
determine which embryos are AA, AS and SS. At the
end of the day, two of the embryos were SS, one was
AS and three were AA. The MART transferred only
the three good embryos. My pregnancy was
confirmed by a pregnancy test at the MART. Thanks
to God, I delivered a normal baby with no sickle gene.
The boy is now one year old and doing very well.”
The sickle cell disease is inherited from one’s
parents. It is a disorder of the red blood cells.
People with sickle cell disease have abnormal red
blood cells that have haemoglobin S that sometimes
become sickle or crescent in shape and therefore
make it difficult for the blood to pass through small
blood vessels. When the blood cannot pass through
the small vessels, it will not be able to reach those
parts of the body which the arteries serve.
Eventually, these tissues become damaged due to
lack of oxygen and other nutrients. The damaged
organs and tissues are what cause the complications
of sickle cell disease.
Normal blood cells contain haemoglobin A, which is
soft and round and can easily squeeze through the
tiny blood vessels. They live for about 120 days
before they are replaced by new blood. Haemoglobin
S, however, lives for only 16 days and become stiff
and misshapen and has difficulty passing through
the tiny blood vessels which become blocked with
clumps of blood.
There are several types of sickle cell disease. The
most common is sickle cell anaemia (SS). There is
also sickle haemoglobin C Disease (SC). Sickle Beta-
Plus Thalassemia and Sickle Beta-Zero Thalassemia.
There is also sickle cell trait, in which the child can
produce both haemoglobin A and S (AS). However,
children who are AS are generally healthy, as they
tend to produce more haemoglobin A than S. You can
have children who are AS if one parent is AA and the
other is AS or if both parents are AS. If both parents
are AA, then all children will be AA. If both parents
are AS, then you can have children who are either AA,
AS or SS.
When the sickled blood cell blocks the flow of blood
through the small blood vessels, it causes damage to
the lungs, which in turn causes respiratory problems
and acute pain episodes in the arms, legs, chest and
abdomen. It can also cause stroke, prolonged and
painful erection and damage to most organs,
including the spleen, kidneys and liver.
Damage to the spleen makes sicklers, particularly
the children, to be prone to bacterial infections which
totally overwhelms them so that they are constantly
sick and in pain. With good medical care, some have
lived up to 60 years and above.