“It’s pretty funny how you think you know someone but you don’t.” 

I got married few years ago and had a baby afterwards. He was a very healthy baby with no issues at all. But when he was a year old, he started to fall really sick and I had to take him to the hospital. I was told that my son has sickle cell anaemia. I was perplexed! “How? When? From where?”, were the questions I kept asking myself. I argued that it’s not possible, his dad’s genotype is AA while I’m AS. But the doctors insisted. 

I had to confront my husband but he kept claiming to be AA. I insisted he go do another genotype test but he refused. Apparently, he was also AS, but had lied to me, although we both got tested before we got married. Everything was a lie. I was so upset, thinking of all the pain my son would have to live with. I had to make a painful decision – I walked out of my marriage with my son, as I couldn’t bear the thought of bringing another child with sickle cell anaemia to this world. 

Right now my son is a healthy boy and he rarely falls sick, though he has to take his meds every day.