Inheriting Haemophilia

Several bleeding disorders, including Haemophilia A and Haemophilia B, are inherited in a pattern known as X-Linked Recessive.

That means that the condition is classically described as being carried by mothers, know as carriers, and experienced by sons.  This is a bit over simplistic in the case of Haemophilia as many women who carry the Haemophilia gene have low factor levels themselves and experience their own bleeding problems.  These days a lot of women who carry the Haemophilia gene also describe themselves as having Haemophilia.

If your mother carries the gene then you have a 50:50 chance of inheriting it yourself.  That means daughers have a 50:50 chance of carrying the gene and sons have a 50:50 chance of being born with Haemophilia.  This NHS video explains why.

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