الخميس، 17 يونيو 2010

Blood screening before marriage

We all believe that marriage is arranged in heaven. Allah plans and selects our spouses and he knows what is best for us. However, this is a secret and it’s up to individuals to exercise their choices to find out who their partner is.

We usually follow our hearts into marriages. Whether we choose to marry a cousin, a distant relative or someone outside the family circle it is usually our hearts that influence us most. When we love and make our choices it is very difficult to think otherwise. We pray and hope the marriage will be everlasting and produce happy, healthy offspring. But sometimes along the line something unexpected might happen and that may place a marriage in distress.

There is nothing more stressful in the family than when a child is born with a blood disorder like Sickle Cell or Thalassemia. This does not only hurt the child but puts pressure on the whole family as well. A child like this needs a lot of care and attention and as a result it occupies much of the parents’ time.

Unfortunately many people especially those who are not aware of how blood disorders happen in a family, tend to blame a woman for passing it on to the children. They think since a child grows in a woman’s womb and gets all the needed nutrients through her blood circulation, she is the one who is responsible.

Till now many are still ignorant of how the disorders are inherited and passed from a parent to a child. For years people have believed that it is just the work of Allah and there is nothing they can do about it. Thanks to the modern technology that has opened doors to discoveries of many medical problems and their prevention. A simple blood test can detect if a person is a carrying a gene that is responsible for a certain disorder within minutes.

Because Oman is one of the countries that has 58% of its people carrying one of the Hereditary Blood Disorder and many children are born with these disorders, has now open free detecting centres all over the country. Pre marriage blood screening is now easily accessible to any person who wishes to be screened. They also provide free consultation for those who need it.

It is very important for everyone to know if he / she is carrying the gene which makes him/ her a ‘CARRIER’ of the disorder. Carriers usually do not know or even feel they are carrying the gene. It is only after marrying another carrier and if their child inherits both their genes to be born with full blood disorder, then they realise that they have a problem.

The question here is; how can a carrier convince his or her fiancée to go for blood screening?

Due to our culture many people hesitate to suggest for fear of offending the other family. Parents are usually disgraced by the idea. They might think that the fiancée wants to find out if their child is infected by insulting diseases. Sometimes a conflict occurs and the marriage does not take place just because people are still not aware of its importance and its consequences. Many keep their finger crossed and go a head with the marriage.

What do you think? Please share your views?

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