There are many genetic diseases, of which sickle cell disease is one. Many, though unfortunate, are well versed in just the negative aspect of what sickle cell disease is (like I discussed in my previous article titled The Love Dilemma): that it’s a sickness that renders people weak, sickly, bereft of the will to live and plaguing their bodies with pains indescribable. But it’s not the whole truth. It’s not even the truth in the first place. So today I engage to take a controversial position.

Persons with sickle cell do have certain degree of discomfort, they do get sick and hospitalize in some situations. They do have crisis. Parents of children with sickle cell do face nightmares, sometimes. Challenges of persons with sickle cell do escalate to threatening thresholds, sometimes. But sickle cell persons are not those weakly, energy-bereft beings that walk around, looking for some artificial pity from people. We don't need people pitying us. We are strong on our own, and naturally so, we are hopeful of the future, in amazing ways.

And when it gets to marriage, sickle cell persons have always been tagged as non-marriageable partners. This is also not true. Though cases have been notified where partners who both have the condition give birth to kids with the condition and these children do get to suffer from symptoms of the disease, but for now, advanced development in science and technology has made it possible that effective and efficient care can greatly help to ameliorate and drastically reduce many of these symptoms and disturbing discomforts. Vaccination, appropriate diet and nutrition, appropriate prophylactics, a caring family, and a supporting environment all helps to lessen the discomforts of the disease. So someone may ask if there are discomforts or challenges? Yes. There are. But discomforts and challenges that get escalated to threatening and fatal thresholds without a loving and supporting family, without appropriate diet and nutrition, without appropriate prophylactics and without a supporting environment or society.

Again, the idea that sickle cell persons (SS) should marry non-sickle cell persons (AA) is misplaced. Have you ever stop to think if there will come a time when all non-sickle cell persons (AA) will get exhausted after getting married to either sickle cell persons (SS) or carriers (AS)? And when that day comes, all that will be left will be the carriers (AS) and the sickle cell persons (SS), who we so much detest as marriage partners.

There are few things in this world that we can reverse or change. Most of them, we just have to adapt, because that is an efficient and effective evolutionary tactic and a sustaining survival strategy. And sickle cell disease happens to be one of those that we have to adapt to.

And worse still, suicidal though, is to gather all the sickle cell persons (SS) and sickle cell carriers (AS) in the world and annihilate them. Then what will be left will be the non-sickle cell persons (AA) to continue procreation, to continue in existence, with no strain of sickle cell disease genotype in their blood but with dozens of other genetic diseases that they will still be suffering from. So to think that sickle cell disease is the only genetic disease that we have to "consciously cleanse" ourselves from, that we have to determinedly keep ourselves “uninfected with”, whiles no mention of other genetic diseases like familial hypercholesterolemia, polycystic kidney disease, tay-sachs disease, phenylketonoria, galactosemia, huntington's disease and many others is hypocritical and outrightly wrong.

Attempt asking any three people, in any area of your life, in any part of the world, and one is going to be a sickle cell person or a sickle cell carrier. With this you will understand that it’s high time we got used to the condition and learn to live with it. Learn to effective adapt to. Because no one is going to embark on a worldwide “cleansing” of humanity to rid our world of any trait of persons with sickle cell disease. It is impossible.

I am not advocating for marriages or relationships to persons with sickle cell disease. No. I am just being controversial.

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