If you have sickle cell trait, it doesn't mean your children will have sickle cell disease. It depends on your partner’s status too.

When people have kids, each parent passes along one copy of the beta globin gene to their child. If the child gets one normal copy and one copy that’s a sickle-cell variant, the child has sickle cell trait. Sickle cell disease happens if the child gets one copy that is the sickle-cell variant and the other copy is also a sickle-cell variant or another type of variant. Either way, the child will have red blood cells that can become sickle cells. These cells can block blood vessels causing pain or other health problems.

Before you decide to have kids, it’s best to talk with your partner and have them find out their status. They can get a simple blood test to learn if they have a beta globin gene variant. If you want to know more, a genetic counselor can tell you all about your genes and options for having kids when you’re ready.