Many may be wondering why in most parts of Africa especially NIGERIA, those who are of blood genotype AA are seen as gods when it comes to marrying and choosing a partner? It partly stems from the Medical Importance of the blood group AA to those that have the genotype "S" and partly due to gross misinformation and ignorance.
Walking into a hospital backed marriage guidance and counseling session in my country, the first thing you'll see is that anyone who has an "S" attached to their genotype Should not marry anyone who also has an "S" in their genotype. They give little or no explanation to this mystery and as a couple, it can be frustrating. All you know is that the Church would not ordain your marriage because you and your wife have an "S" in your genotype.
But there is a solution, they say. Do not be weary and if sad countenance, either of you can always marry someone with an "AA" Genotype, with no explanation. They just tell you that no matter the genotype you have, you can always marry an "AA" genotype, they could always be your lord and savior when it comes to marriage.
So it's no surprise when you are on a date with a lady or a guy who is supposed of any of these common genotypes
a) AS
b) SS
c) AC
d) SC
to ask you, what's your Genotype as a First Date question. They just want to be safe. They don't want to be heartbroken by the news that they can't get married to you after dating for more than 5 years just because of your Genotype.
Sadly, many have tossed the advice and warnings of the church and went ahead to get married and are now suffering the consequences, giving birth to an SS or sickle cell child. The trauma could be overwhelming as the management of such illness in Nigeria is very poor.
So dear ones, Why can't a person who has an "S" in his or her Genotype get married to another with an "S". Below is a simple explanation.
Following the Mendelian law of inheritance, a child gets one each of a gene pair from the father and the mother, even resonating down to the simplest of details like eye color and so on.
In the end, depends on who has a dominant gene for a particular trait, the child may either have the mother's phenotype or the father's Phenotype.
Safe genotypes include AA, AS and AC, as long as there is an "A" which is the dominant gene, the person remains relatively fine.
But if two people having an "S" gets married, they chances of them bringing into this world a child with an SS Genotype is 1/4 and medically, because of the traumatic experience attached with being a child with an SS Genotype, such union is frowned upon and the church has also adopted to frown upon such union.
Having a sickle cell child in this part of the world is a nightmare and Should be avoided at all costs.
One may ask, so is it possible for a parent who is SS and AA to give birth to an SS child, 4he answer, medically is NO.
So you see why the genotype AA is hailed as a god? They could marry any other genotype without FEAR!