“What are the chances that my child will have sickle cell anemia?”
Both my husband and I have the sickle cell anemia gene, and now I'm pregnant. This pregnancy was completely unplanned and now I'm starting to worry that my child will have the disease. My husband wasn't tested for the gene until after I got pregnant, and my mother always warned me to not have children if we both had the gene. What are the chances that my child will have sickle cell anemia?
3 Answers
When both parents have the gene, the child has a very high risk to have the disease.
The chance that your baby would have Sickle cell anemia is 25% (1 in 4). Sickle cell anemia can be detected in pregnancy by testing a piece of the placenta obtained through a procedure called CVS or amniocentesis. Both procedures, although invasive, are associated with minimal risk for a miscarriage.
The chances are 25% (1 out of 4). You also have a 50% chance that your child is a carrier like you and your husband. There is also another 25% chance that your child will be normal (not carrying even one copy of the sickle cell gene).
Luigi Boccuto, MD
Luigi Boccuto, MD
