I have witnessed episodes from Sickle Cell patients that left me distraught. The first I witnessed made me ask the obvious question, “Did their parents not know?” We were taught about Genotypes and Blood Groups in JSS 1. My brain thought that all that was needed to prevent the AS parents from bringing an SS into the world was for them to have one child. I believed that the chances of having the first child as an SS was close to impossible. That was my small mind then until reality crashed it.
A boy was having an episode. I was not close to them but we were neighbors. When the asthma crisis started on top fever, I watched the parents bundle him with his siblings into the car and drive off to the hospital. I honestly thought he was the last child because I rarely saw him, he was homeschooled and he never did chores like his other siblings. Outside with my mates, I made the passing statement that the parents should have just stopped at two children and not bring the last one to suffer when they were obviously not compatible.
I was corrected when I got the reply that the boy was in fact the first-born. My mind raced with thoughts like, just what were the parents thinking to take the risk of bringing other kids into the world after that first lesson? I could not understand it and that was when I had the nagging feeling to know my own Genotype. Mom told me she was AA and dad was AA so, I had nothing to worry about. Still, I needed to know. I took the test and found that I was indeed AA, and O positive by blood group.
When I met my current partner and we started the talking stage, it was among the first things we talked about and we were not shy about it. Why? It was better to get it out of the way then that the infatuation was not deep than go on and regret it later. We still have a series of test to be done and we will get to that soon. However, I believe that the subject of medical compatibility should be discussed in the early stages of all relationships. Unless of course, you both are just having fun.
The topic of medical compatibility is more acknowledged now than it was in the old days. I remember the story my mom told me of a couple that could not conceive. They blamed the woman as usual and then six years later, the sister of the man got tired and decided they should take the woman for medical test before finally going to the shrine priest to find out her crime and why she could not conceive. The test result came out that she was in perfect reproductive health. The doctor then asked to see the man and that was when eyes began to clear for them. Long story short, the man was sterile. He already had suspicions since the other women he kept outside had not conceived either. The plan was to bring whichever conceived first home and send the wife back to her father’s house. However, their wickedness was exposed and the woman was the one who left the man. Mom says she is married again and has four kids.
The thing I was thinking while listening to my mom was how the woman would have been spared the heartache and maltreatment if they had conducted this entire test in the beginning. People think these things end with genotype, blood group and STIs. It is more than that. I have learned that. To avoid any surprise in the future, both the woman and the man should go through the reproductive health test (or whatever they call it) to be fully prepared for what is coming ahead. So that one woman will not be punished for another man’s inability to procreate.
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