Medical compatibility in relationships wasn't a big deal in the past, or let me sat, it was but People, even though they knew the consequences, believed that love conquers all and that life could take any turn to make a crooked way straight. However, as time went on, the effects of those actions became very visible and made life very scary, prompting people to take note of genotype and blood type compatibility.
My mom and dad, I don't think they ever considered their health compatibility before they got married, but they got to know the importance of such via happenings around.
I didn't just hear about these consequences and accept them; I saw them with my own eyes when I was growing up. There was a man in my compound who was somewhat rich. His family (him, his wife, and their children) lived above the lifestyle of skipping meals to provide for the later, and he(the man) was based in the city while the children were in the village. Before my eyes, their first daughter, who had been sick for a long time, died. The girl was around 17 or so, as she was much older than I was at the time. That was when I learned that the husband and wife were not compatible in genotype and had lost other children before that almost-surviving girl died.
I was surprised because the man was educated, literate, had money, and lived in the city. I couldn't fathom how he and his wife ended up marrying despite knowing they had compatibility issues. I can't imagine the kind of pain they went through, seeing their children die in their hands, most of them passing away after the baby stage.
In the past, people didn't know much about this compatibility factor, and children died without the parents knowing the reasons. Now that we are in a more knowledgeable era, I would advise anyone entering a relationship to check compatibility at the first stage before proceeding with anything else. This should be the first step before any other, before love grows to the point where it can't be disengaged.
You might call me overly serious, but I make sure to ask about genotype first whenever I'm getting close to a girl. It's very hard to cut a relationship once it has grown. We've seen in many movies how people involved couldn't let go and decided to believe in miracles. No doubt, I've heard of people for whom miracles happened, but know that while miracles are meant for everyone, they don't happen to everyone.
When is the right time to check?
As I mentioned above, I would suggest asking or checking for compatibility at the earliest stage. Yes, I mean the first days of dating to avoid long stories. Some may argue that it's not necessary in the early dating stage because marriage isn't certain yet. But if marriage isn't sure, then why date? This is where we've all been wrong and have taken it as a norm to sample, enjoy life before meeting the right one.
Thank you!
This is in response to one of the prompts in Hivenaija weekly contests.
