Beta Thalassemia

[LN4]

Hi

my wife found out she’s pregnant 9 weeks and 3 days today we had a miscarriage 9 years ago she went for blood test and they rang her up telling her that she had this blood disorder and I need to go for a blood test I went on Friday as it was an emergency appointment if it comes back we both have this what happens next also what happens if just she has it they told me the blood test could take a while to come back even though hers took 2 days we went for a scan on Friday morning and the baby is 24.6 mm with heart beat of 177bpm

I'm not a religious man but I’ve been praying to god everyday since

So hopefully your doctor will explain this better but - if you both have it, then there is a chance the baby will have it (it depends if you are just a carrier or you actually have it yourself )

if I recall from when I tested for it - there’s major and minor BT. Minor (for me anyway) hasn’t impacted my life beyond being anaemic constantly and never catching malaria despite the fact that statically i really should have (this was far more of a benefit when I lived in malarial zones than now- it’s a bit of a mystery why I have it because it’s very rare in white British people since historically we haven’t really needed malarial protection!) I imagine if the news came as a shock to your wife - then she’s unlikely to have the major one. It’s had no impact on my pregnancies but then my children are donor conceived and their donor didn’t have it

I don’t know if major/minor is just a fluke or if you can only have major if two major parents have it? I’m sure your doctor can explain.

If it is major , then I suspect you’ll receive genetic counselling around the risks to your child.