Abuja residents call for more sensitisation on genotype

A cross section of residents in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have called for adequate sensitisation of Nigerians on their genotypes while choosing their spouses.

The resident in separate interviews with the newsmen on Thursday in Abuja emphasised on the importance and need for genotype test before choosing a partner.

They said it was crucial for intending spouses to know their genotype before marriage.

According to them, partners who have the same AA genotype could go ahead and get married without any issue, while partners of both AS genotypes should be discouraged from getting married.

Mr Aiyedogbon Toluwase, a businessman, advised that people should make the right decisions through their intelligence and be aware of their choice of partner.

“When the man is AS and the lady is AS, the consequences will not be upon you but on your children and that is a deliberate ignorance.

“It is a foolish idea irrespective of how much you love each other and how long you have been together to go ahead with marriage.

“Questions like knowing each other’s genotype should be part of the things people need to speak on first dates.

“Both AS genotypes going into marriage is a bad idea and it should be discouraged,”he said.

Miss Rukayya Salihu, a teacher, said before the concept of science, our forefathers never knew anything about genotype.

“People got married any way they wanted and this sometimes resulted in their children dying, as a result of sickle cell disease which they attributed to “Ogbanje.’

“Now we are in the age in which everyone has access to information. So people should be responsible for the choices they make.

“Two individuals with AS genotypes have no business being in a relationship with each other, because you are planning on bringing a sickle child to come experience pain”, she said.

Salihu said that people with AA genotypes should mingle and get married to AS and SS genotypes to prevent them from getting married to themselves.

This she said would reduce the death rate recorded as a result of sickle cell especially amongst children.

Mr Oluwaseun Paul, an engineer, said individuals who go into a relationship that result into marriage should know their genotype status from the onset.

“If I am of AS genotype and my partner is AS and we have built a future, I won’t leave her after discovering her genotype.

“We will get married and go for adoption”, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Charles Meblink, a pharmacist, advised that for both AS partners to be together there is the risk of getting sickle cell children.

“There is a probability of getting either SS, AS or AA genotype children. However, there are technologies which are not 100 per cent perfect that can help parents select embryos.

“These technologies check the genotype of the child after conception, but most times it ends up destroying the embryo which is not ethical.

“Intending couples should always be counseled about the risk and the challenges they are likely to face”, he said.