Hi New to the site

Hello my Husband and I are from Australia but of I am Australian born of Chinese and English descent and he is of Vietnamese origin. We both have Alpha Thalassemia Minor and are pregnant with a chance of the baby having a 25% change of having the major. We would love to hear from other couples who have gone or who are going through this.

But I really came onto this site to get better educated. I have heard conflicting stories on Alpha Thalassemia Major - being the more severe form than Beta Thalassemia, I have been told that if detected it is not compatible with life and therefore  we have no choice but to abort.

But I have also heard the baby can live by having a blood transfusion in the womb, so I am confused by this so if someone can enlighten me that would be great. 

Hi and welcome,

Alpha thal major does result in death before or at birth, as the body cannot produce any usable hemoglobin. Yes, there have been some cases where transfusion in the womb has kept the fetus alive. You should talk to your doctor about this to see if this is even a possibility for you. An alpha thal major who survived birth would require life-long transfusions as with beta thal major.

If possible, in the future, you may want to choose in vitro fertilization to ensure that the embryo implanted is not more than a carrier, and preferably, not a carrier at all.

    Hi and Welcome !!!!! Hope you find all your questions answered, feel free to ask any questions. All the best and do take care!

Hello amakelly,

I think it would be important for you to learn which type of Alpha Thal Trait are both of you carrying. If both of you have different alpha thal (trait), let's say one of you have Alpha Plus Thal Trait and the other has Alpha Zero Thal Trait, there is a better chance than both of you having the same type of Alpha Trait. In that case, you will have a 25% chance of having a child with Hemoglobin H (which I think, is less severe than Alpha Thal(Major) )

I know this might be a little confusing, but here is a link which can show you with examples, what I am talking about. (They also have a diagram to explain it)
http://www.sickle-thalassaemia.org/Alpha%20Thal.htm

WHAT HAPPENS IF ONE PARENT HAS ALPHA PLUS THALASSAEMIA TRAIT AND ONE HAS ALPHA ZERO THALASSAEMIA TRAIT?
If one parent has alpha thalassaemia trait and other parent has alpha zero thalassaemia trait (see example 2); in this instance EACH time they are expecting a child there is a 1 in 4 chance the child could inherit the usual number of alpha genes, a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting alpha zero thalassaemia trait (just like one of their parents), a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting alpha plus thalassaemia trait, (like the other parent) or a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting a condition called HAEMOGLOBIN H DISEASE

Also, note from the same site :-

Testing the baby in the womb is called prenatal diagnosis and can be done as early as ten weeks of pregnancy in most cases. The test is done in a hospital and the result is usually available within 2 - 4 weeks, depending on the type of test you are offered

So, I think it would be worth while to find out what type of Alpha Thal Trait do both of you carry. I think DNA testing is needed for finding it out. But, I think as you are pregnant not sure what that leads to with the time frame.

Also, as Andy has mentioned there is a chance of the child surviving in there is a blood transfusion done while the child is in the womb.

Do update us, so that others in your situation can learn from what you hear from the doctor's. We hope you are in the 25% of normal child.

Amakelly,
Hi and welcome to the forum. This is a wonderful forum where you will get lots of support and best of the advices...WELCOME...

Hi Amakelly,

to the forum. Feel free to ask further questions that you have in mind. I hope you get the answers to your questions from our knowledgeable members. There are a couple of Alpha Thals. on the forum. I hope they would reply too.