We finally got around to taking Lydia to the lab to get blood work done to find out if she too has beta thalassemia minor (BTM) and...she does. The pediatrician called Tuesday and told Trung that since our kids have BTM, that means that both Trung and I have the autosomal recessive gene as well. I was a bit confused, because ever since we found out that Sophie had BTM, we automatically assumed that it was Trung that carried the autosomal recessive gene, but now I had it too? If that was true, then we were gosh darn lucky that neither girls got beta thalassemia major, which was a whopping 25% each pregnancy!
So the next day I left the hematologist's office a message questioning the validity of the pediatrician's statements. Well, I didn't have to wait long to find the answer because the pediatrician called back today saying that both parents did not necessarily have to have the gene to pass down BTM to their kids. Whew! I still plan on getting some blood work done though for peace of mind just in case we do decide to have another child or should I accidentally become pregnant.
So the next day I left the hematologist's office a message questioning the validity of the pediatrician's statements. Well, I didn't have to wait long to find the answer because the pediatrician called back today saying that both parents did not necessarily have to have the gene to pass down BTM to their kids. Whew! I still plan on getting some blood work done though for peace of mind just in case we do decide to have another child or should I accidentally become pregnant.
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