Both Parents Thal Minor

My Dear Friends,

I was just searching for some information on Thal Minor at Google that I somehow bumped into this site. I read a few of the topics and personal sharings of some of the friends. Believe me I have been feeling so lucky to have found you guys.
It is such a wonderful forum to give and get help to fellow Thalassemians.
I am a 30 year old man, married for last 4 years. When I got married I knew nothing about Thal. Three years later when my wife (27 years old now) was 8 months pregnant that we had to encounter the news on Thal. Its pretty unfortunate that in so many parts of the world people are still unaware about Thal.
After all the tests and reports it was concuded that me and my wife both were having Beta Thal minor. Although apart from fatigue and tiredness we havent had any other complications (Touchwood..) Even still we work extensively hard and till late as well at our professional front.

Today we have a prince charming baby boy who just turned 1 year old last month.

Doctors did tell us that the HPLC tests for the child done at birth would not give accurate results and we were advised to get the tests done after the child turns 1. Till now everything has been absolutely fine and we have not been able to see any symptoms of Thal in our child.

Although we were further advised by the doctors to get the amniotic fluid tests done to check whether the child had Thal while he was in the womb (that was 8th month of pregnancy).

but had there been any cure assuming that the results would have shown Thal, I surely would have got the tests done. Since there is no cure we didnt get the test done. Moreover it would have given unnecessary stress to my sweetheart wife. As it is we were not going to abort the child even if had he been Thal'ic.

Do any one of you suggest that we should get the tests done now or shall we just refrain from getting the tests done. We love our child very much and cant even think of a day without him. He is one of the most precious treasures that we have and we want him to be hale and hearty.

Any information, suggestions if you could share I would appreciate that.

Thanks and Cheers,
Ginni

Hello Ginni,

Welcome aboard, i assure you that you've found a right place to answer your questions, i am a thal minor as well as my partner,we also didn't know about our thal minor,untill our daughter was diagnosed with thal intermedia at the age of three,so i'll personally advise you to go ahead with the tests,a hb electrophoresis test should be done to determine even if he is a thal minor like his parents,it will help you raise him as a healthy child,giving him right diet and supplementation and everything,when both parents are thal minors,in every pragnancy there is a 50% chance that the child would carry thal minor,25% chance that kid would be thal major and 25% chance that kid would be normal,so tests are crucial,i don't think your child could be thal major (God Forbid),coz thal majors are diagnosed in early months of their lives and have to start transfusions,so don't worry and go ahead with the testing,the least he can get is thal minor which is quiet managable,i hope everything would be fine with him,wishing you luck  .

Keep us updated,

ZAINI.

Hello,

Given the facts in your post it does not look like your child has thal major. Like Zaini said the onset of thal major is within the first year of child's life. However, its best to conduct electrophesis and DNA testing to get assurance and also to uderstand the genetic composition of your child for future generations.

Hi Gini,

to the site.

I really hope that your son is not Thal. Major. However you should keep an eye on his health. Make sure that he is developing nicely and his blood counts are monitored regularly.

I suppose that the HB switch has occurred to him; i.e he is now on his own HB rather than his mom's Fetal HB so a Electrophoresis could be helpful otherwise his reading would show high HBF readings which could be misleading for now.

You should keep a close eye on his blood counts as some Thal. Majors are known to pull through the first year without a Tx (I pulled through some 2 years or so).

Make sure he is active and has no delayed milestones. If he gets sick frequently then have his blood counts checked.

You need not worry if his HB stays around 10 g/dl because the doctors will consider it low as it is a low for a normal person, however it is pretty much normal for a Thal. Minor.

Finally if a DNA test is available to you, then you can get the exact picture of what genes he has.

Wishing you all the best.

Hi,

You should definitely have your child tested. It is a simple blood test and should not cause any stress to anyone. At this point is is unlikely that he is a major since he shows no sign at all at this point, but is is very important that he knows if he also carries the thal gene, and you do need to rule out thal major or intermedia. When he is older and wants to start his own family, this information will be very important.

I hope you and your wife are now aware of the risks and will keep this in mind for future pregnancies. There are ways to assure that you do not have thal major children and you should consult with your doctor before deciding to have another child. IV fertilization is one way to guarantee that your child is free of the thal gene.

I agree with the others.  You should have him tested.  Also, when he gets married he should get genetic counseling if he does not want to pass on this gene.   It is so vital to be educated because symptoms can arise later in life sometimes.  Like the others have said, if he is not having any trouble, he most likely is minor too.
 
We have chosen to parent our daughter with Thal major through adoption, but I would love for this disease to be erradicated one day and for no more children suffer from it. 

Best of luck to your family!