Who should you marry? [Pulse Contributor's Opinion]

Now, I’m definitely not in the position to tell you the criteria to use in selecting your husband or wife, but I can help you with this tip:

Make sure that your choice of a life partner gives your future (biological) kids the best chance at a healthy future.

Their genotypes will play an important role in determining just how healthy they will be. And their genotype will depend on yours and that of your spouse.

The main problem you want to avoid is having kids with sickle cell disease (a recessive disorder)-a very serious medical condition that has the highest prevalence in Nigeria.

Now, we have all heard the basics: AS shouldn’t marry AS. AA can marry anybody. Right? But it is more complex than that.

There’s more to genotypes than AA and AS. There are others as well: SS and AC. And these genotypes also have to be careful in picking a spouse.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll show you a chart that tells you the unions that are excellent and the ones that are bad, from a genotypic point of view.

And I want you to look at it closely.

This chart is based on the assumption that each couple will have 4 biological kids.

And it is based on probability, meaning that things may not happen exactly as shown on the chart.

All I can show you are the possibilities that your genotypic combinations can create. And it is always a good idea to bear this in mind before deciding go enter a high-risk marriage.

With that said, here’s the chart :

AA + AA = AA, AA, AA, AA (Very good)

AA + AS = AA, AS, AA, AS, (Good)

AA + SS = AS, AS, AS, AS, (Fair)

AA + AC = AA, AC, AA, AC. (Good)

AS + AS = AA, AS, AS, SS, (Bad, Advice needed)

AS + SS = AS, SS, SS, SS, (Very Bad)

AS + AC = AA, AC, AS,SC. (Bad, Advice required)

SS + SS = SS, SS, SS, SS, (Very Bad)

AC + SS = AS, AS, SC, SC, (Very Bad)

AC + AC = AA, AC, AC, CC. ( Bad, Advice required)

Did you notice those cases that had “Bad, Advice required” beside them? For those cases, there is an option that can help them have biological kids without giving birth to kids with CC or SS genotype.

It is a process called PGD (Preimplantation genetic diagnosis) which is performed during IVF (In-vitro fertilisation) . In simple terms, disease-free embryos are carefully selected and used, so this can help to ensure that the child that comes out of this does not have Sickle cell disease.

In conclusion, I have seen cases where AS still went ahead to marry AS, and they had 4 children that were AA.

But i have also seen AS marry AS and they had 4 kids who were SS all through. This is a life of pain that you don’t want to experience.

Make the best decisions for them

And for those that don’t know their genotypes yet, you need a factory reset. 😒

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Toluwani Binutu is a Medical Doctor based in the UK. With experience in a wide range of specialities, from Emergency medicine to Health insurance , he is passionate about wellness. He believes that the key to living your best life lies in your ability to stay healthy. For more health tips , you can check out his Instagram handle @tolubinutu

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