Can interracial children get sickle cell anemia?

Answer 1

It could be possible, but quite unlikely. The gene is of African origin. Here is how the odds work:

1. If only one parent has the trait, there is a 50% chance that a child of theirs would also just have the trait without having the full-blown disease.

2. If two parents has the trait, then any children would be 25% like to not have the trait at all, 50% likely to be a carrier, and 25% likely to have the full-blown disease.

3. If a person has the disease and the other parent doesn't have the trait at all, then all resulting children would carry the trait but not have the disease.

4. If a person with sickle cell anemia has children with a carrier, then half the children would have the disease, and half would have just the trait.

5. Assuming 2 people with sickle cell anemia are alive long enough to have children together, all their children would have it.

So back to the question. If one parent was White and the other was Black with the sickle cell trait and not the full-blown disease, then they would not have children with the disease, but roughly half would carry it. But if the Black parent was born with the disease (both genes), then none of the children would have it, but all would be carriers. But typically, neither parent would even have the trait, and so none of the children would get it or carry it. Now, lets suppose that two interracial persons produce children together. If by chance they both carried the trait, then the odds are 1 in 4 of having the disease, 1 in 4 of not even carrying it, and a 50% chance of being a carrier.