Genotype, Marriage, and Child-Bearing
“I’m sorry you both cannot marry. The result of the test shows that you both have genotype AS which of course means you have the chance of giving birth to a sickler” the doctor said speaking to Randy.
Randy’s case is a common occurrence in (I can’t be specific of the entire globe) almost every place I’ve traveled, visited, and read about. It is common advice given by even medical experts that you can’t marry a partner if you both have traits of the S genotype. This advice is usually given due to the health complications that can arise from you both raising a child.
On the flip side, this particular health advice reveals a societal norm that has truly stood the test of time. Which is that marriage should always result in children. This belief may have been age-long, but let us question it. Should marriage lead to childbearing??
Marriage and Child-Bearing
People get married for the sake of companionship and it actually should be as simple as that. Not every person is interested in getting married, not every person is interested in having a child, and not every person interested in having a child is interested in having children. People should be able to make harmless personal choices without having societal norms that directly, indirectly, or wordlessly oppose those choices.
People who want companionship get married and people who want to have a child or have children simply do so without having to intertwine the two or think they go together.
Although, most people prefer to have a child, get married, and have children (in no particular order). This doesn’t mean it is everybody’s choice or that it must be so for everyone.
Now that we understand that, let’s get back to Sickle Cell Anemia.
Sickle Cell Anemia and Marriage
Sickle Cell Anemia only constitutes a problem for people who choose to have a child or children. Do people who want to marry but are not interested in having a child have to be concerned about genotype and sickle cell challenges? No! Then why do they say that AS and AS can not marry? I’ll tell you.
Actually, AS and AS can marry. They just should not have a child because of the health challenge it will create for their child and indirectly, for them. People say AS and AS cannot marry because of the already existing societal norm that when people get married, they are automatically expected to have a child or to have children. Because it is a common thing that married people to give birth, it is assumed to be so for everyone.
I think it is now up to GEN Zs and beyond to rewrite that narrative and make commonplace, the existence of marriages that are not intended for the birth of a child or of children.
