Life before Marriage: The Significance of Partners Knowing Their Genotype

ABDULAZEEZ Rahmah writes,

Ahead of marriage, finding a perfect future partner that says yes to you is such a beautiful thing. You finally get a life partner to walk with through the journey of life. But do you think or care about the health of the future kids you’d produce? How sure are you that your offspring would be born healthy and bouncing just as you only imagine it? 

If the answer is no, then you should be a bit worried, as there could be sorry and heart-touching stories waiting for you later in the future. This is the sole reason why learning the key basics to heredity and genetics is paramount before delving into that pool of love and which is why there’s more to saying that “yes” to your supposed partner without already having a cue about what your genotype says. 

Knowing this is one of the major natural requirements nowadays which one must consider before embarking in any marital journey is that is what also determines the genotype of your offspring. And without it, guaranteeing yourself the health of the not yet born kids’ being in safe hands only would be happening in your dreams. Now, ask yourself, do you know your blood group and genotype with that of your partner? Only if you know how just being aware of this right information will save you from future, parental complications and eventually nursing sickle cell offspring later in life. 

Teaching the basics, blood genotype indicates the genetic makeup of an individual's blood in its entirety. However, there are four types of genotypes in humans which are AA, AS, SS and finally the AC which happens to be very uncommon. SS and AC are the abnormal genotypes and the disease they manifest in human is what is referred to the sickle cell. However, every human being falls into just one specific category of these.

As for AA, this is the best and the most compatible genotype which can choose a life partner from the other categories of genotype with no possibility of having any children with the sickle cell disorder. An individual with AS genotype is also compatible, but only when pairing with AA genotype. AS pairing with another AS results at a high risk of having a sickle cell kid with a probability ranging up to 25%. AS as well pairing with AC or SS totally inflates the high rate of having kids with the sickle cell anemia disease, so this at all should not be given even the least consideration. 

Now, people with SS genotype were given birth to as a result of wrong pairings from their respective parents who had had no knowledge of genetics or paid no attention to it while being too swayed with love. Due to these neglects or ignorance, these SS individuals now suffer from the sickle cell, a disease which does not only come with minimal pains and discomforts but also results in a shorter lifespan.

Individuals with sickle cell disorder are medically reported to experience severe pains in their body parts and are most times, they are exposed to diseases because they have no red blood cells in their blood vessels to fight against other internal diseases which  as a result subject them to profuse and non-stop ailments. In addition, the sickle cell disease is not contagious but caused through incompatible pairing of parents’ blood genotype.  

While the pre-marriage relationship is an important part of the current, modern life, the involved partners knowing each other’s genotype should also prioritize this simple knowledge and keep the health of the generations to come in safe hands. As riches, beauty, and other things are looked out for in a partner, genotype should also be one of the other pertinent factors that determine the right person for marriage in order to avoid the future complications.

Below are the various genotype pairings and the results each produces!

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

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

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

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

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

AC + AC = AA, AC, AC, SS. (Bad)

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

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