My Wife is 9 weeks Pregnant and may have Thal Minor

I have been called in to do a blood test and was wondering what my chances of been a carrier too

In general what do most carriers have in common? My 2 brothers and sister and myself dont have Thal Major. My mother seems to be a little anaemic - not 100% sure but low iron or something

I myself was a very active sportsman throughout my teens and into early 30s... not so active now but I'm sure i'm not anaemic

I will know in 5 days if I am a carrier or not, and if so dont fancy playing the odds of 1 in 4 of a thal major child

Are there any tests on the embryo/fetus to determine thal major?

Even though this is my first expecting child I will abort if need be as its the right thing to do

TIA

Barry

Are there any tests on the embryo/fetus to determine thal major?

If both parents are carrier, then there are different tests that can be performed:
1. CVS: This is done around 11-12 weeks. Please remember there's a risk of miscarraige associated with this test

2. Amniocentesis: This test is done around 17-18 week and also carries a risk. But risk is less as compared to CVS.

Please read : http://www.labtestsonline.org/news/betathal050422.html

However, I'm not sure if HbE can be detected with these tests or not.

--Hallu

Hi Barry,

It is very important for a person to know if they are Thal(Minor) because most of the time it is Asymptomatic. Both parents should definately get tested for Thalassemia(Minor) or Trait.

I myself got tested for Thalassemia here in USA, but the doctors have reported back that I MIGHT be Alpha Thalassemia(Minor). I am lucky to find out that my wife is NOT a Thal(Minor), so my kids will NOT have the risk of carrying the dangerous Thalassemia(Major).

There are 2 type of Thalassemia - Beta and Alpha. You might want to get both you and your wife tested for Thalassemia. Mostly the Hemoglobin Electrophoresis test is done to find out if a person carries Thalassemia genes.

As mentioned by Hallu, if both parents are Thalassemia(Minor), you might want to get the fetus tested. There are 25% chance of having a severely disordered child(who might need blood transfusions throughout his/her life) if both parents are Thal(Minor).

Where are you located?? It is important to go to a doctor who knows about Thalassemia. Also, you might want to print out information of Thalassemia and bring it along with you while you visit the doctor.

Get tested and keep us posted

Good Luck,
-Narendra

thanks for the replies

i will get tested in 2 days time

no history of thal major on both my parents side since my grandparents but thats no reassurance

Dear Bazza,

CVS test is the usual test that they perform to check for Thal major in a baby. This test can be performed anywhere after 10 weeks however they recommend around 11 weeks and 3 days. The percentage for the baby to get hurt in this process is less than 1%.  My husband & I are both thal minor and we have a beautiful daughter who has no Thal at all......

Hope all goes well....

Dear Bazza,

Welcome to the site!  This is a usually a difficult time for most couples and I recommend that you access a genetic counsellor to help you and your wife with the information you will be receiving.  If you have any more questions please feel free to ask this community!


I wish you all the best with your test.

SalD

my mcv level is 92 fl (17g/dL) as opposed to my wife's 64 (11.7)

the doctors have ruled out any possibility of thal major being passed on

I am more than happy to know that, but does having a high mcv guarantee being a non carrier

We should have got full medical check ups before planning but not many seem to do this in th UK

I am now in Hong Kong where most people do get check ups first (I didnt want to, but my wife really wanted to). If I had, we wouldnt have had to go through this grief

MCV of 75 or lower would indicate the possibility of minor. Yours is much higher and you have never exhibited and traits of minor. It is extremely unlikely that you are a carrier. If you want to investigate further you should have a hemoglobin electrophoresis test done. Once the baby is born it should also be tested for the trait. All carriers should know that they carry the thal gene for future reference.

Hi Bazza,
            Great to know that you are not at risk of having a Thal. Major child and hopefully never will be

If all goes well and my wife doesnt mind I plan on a second child

I was informed by the clinic that if we were both carriers, there are procedures to select eggs/sperm to beat the 1 in 4 chance of a thal major child

This being true, this method should be able to pass on healthy genes to beat the 50/50 chance