Consanguineous Unions and the Genetic Load, The Importance of Premarital genotype Screening- Nour WGSS- Al Zahira

Nour WGSS mobile team held an awareness session entitled “Consanguineous Unions and the Genetic Load, The Importance of Premarital genotype Screening” at The Comprehensive Specialized Clinics, Thalassemia Center.

One of the facilitators said, “Consanguineous unions are associated with an increased risk for congenital malformations and autosomal recessive diseases, with some resultant increased postnatal mortality in the offspring of first cousin couples. Such unions result in a higher rate of genetically transmitted disorders such as thalassemia, sickle cell, autism, and other diseases.

The session offered a brief explanation of the consequences of consanguineous marriages and the importance of doing premarital check-ups.

One of the women attending the sessions said, “I married my cousin because I couldn’t have possibly rejected him since the family’s wealth had to be kept within the family. My three children have paid the price. All three of them were born with thalassemia.”