# Sticky  Blood Group possibilities for a baby from Mother's and Father's blood groups



## bundles

Hi ladies. I am often asked about the relevance of blood group matching for donors, with a view to producing a baby that would be a possible blood group from the parents. Obviously this is mainly important if you are not intending to tell the child.
It is a simple matter of genetics, and after drafting out all of the possibilities I have actually found a really good representation on The Australian Red Cross website ! I have simplified a couple of things and included a table for Rhesus factor too (Rh+ve Rh-ve) which should be considered after you have looked at the ABO system.

For info: Very simply, in this case, *Genotype* means what the 2 genes actually are and *Phenotype* means what the blood group tests to be (or shows itself as)

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*Inheritance patterns of blood groups*

Blood groups are inherited from our parents in the same way as other genetic traits (eg, eye colour). ABO and Rhesus are the most well-known among the blood group systems.

ABO inheritance patterns
The ABO blood group system is determined by the ABO gene, which is found on chromosome 9. The four ABO blood groups, A, B, AB and O, arise from inheriting one or more of the alternative forms of this gene, namely A, B or O.

Genetic Combinations of ABO Blood Groups

Blood group Possible genes

A AA or AO

B BB or BO

AB AB

O OO

The A and B genes are co-dominant so both A and B antigens will be expressed on the red cells whenever either gene is present. O genes do not produce either A or B antigens, thus, are sometimes called 'silent' or recessive genes.

ABO Inheritance Patterns

Parental blood groups	Child's blood group

O and O O

O and A O or A

O and B O or B

O and AB A or B

A and A A or O

A and B O or A or B or AB

A and AB A or B or AB

B and B O or B

B and AB B or A or AB

AB and AB A or B or AB

Note: These are various possible blood groups that children may inherit according to the combination of parental blood groups.

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*Rhesus inheritance patterns*

The Rh blood group system is attributable to two genes, RHD and RHCE, which are located on chromosome 1.

Rh positivity or Rh negativity is distinguished by testing for the RhD antigen, the expression of which depends upon whether an RHD gene has been inherited from one or both parents.

The RHD gene is dominant so a person is considered to be RhD positive whenever this gene is present, even though the gene may have been inherited from one parent. Conversely, a person will be RhD negative if no RHD gene is inherited.

Parental Rh type Child's Rh type
Positive and Positive Positive or Negative

Positive and Negative Positive or Negative

Negative and Negative Negative

Note: These are the various possible Rh types that children may express according to the combination of parental Rh phenotypes.

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The original website is http://www.transfusion.com.au/?q=node/77

The easiest way to use the table is to look up yours & your partner's possible children, then the donor's and your partner's (if you are using DE) or the donor's and yours (if you are using DS).

For example. I am AB & my partner is O. Our possible children could be A or B. I was initially offered a B donor which could have produced B or O. Since I can't possibly produce an O child with my OH, I rejected her.

I appreciate this may be a little confusing for some & if you are really struggling, feel free to ask questions. 
Bundles xx

/links


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## Lilly83

This is amazing thanks so much for taking the time, it's very interesting 

I'm o neg and my donors b pos, I'm not sure what DP is will have to find out 

L xx


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## wibble-wobble

There was me thinking that because I'm A+ and so was the donor that my baby would be too. My dad was A+ not sure what mum is. I thought you got the blood group of one of your parents.

If I've understood right my lo could be A or O + or -


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## bundles

Lol yes, although it depends on whether you were AO or AA yourself, likewise your donor. If you knew your mum's was O then you would def be AO. Probably your LO will be Rh+ve
xx


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## CrazyHorse

Bundles, it's VERY rare, but an AB woman *can* have a phenotype O child. It's called the Bombay phenotype because it was originally discovered in Mumbai, and occurs when a person inherits A and/or B alleles, but is unable to produce the H antigen which is a necessary precursor to expressing A or B antigens. Wikipedia has a pretty good explanation of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hh_blood_group.

My grandmother was told by her doctors that she was AB-, and my mother has always been typed as O+. (No question of donor eggs, obviously, or adoption.) I don't think my mother has been given any transfusions, so don't think she would ever have been checked for H antigen. I don't know whether my grandmother was misinformed and was actually A-, like my mother's sister, or if my mother is a rare H-deficient individual. My sister and I are both good old A+ courtesy of Dad.

Not saying the Bombay phenotype thing should change your mind about whether to consider egg donors from additional blood groups, but thought you might like to know. 

/links


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## bundles

CrazyH   
Being a microbiologist/biochemist my training in Haematology was fairly limited so I was not aware of the Bombay phenotype. However, I've just spoken to a good friend who is a Chief in Haematology & he said whilst it is very rarely possible, in over 30yrs he's never seen one. And as Wiki says "This very rare phenotype is generally present in about 0.0004% (about 4 per million) of the human population, or 1 in a million people in Europe" so I guess it's uncommon enough not to really be a factor in donor choosing   unless, of course, you are choosing a donor from India !

He also said that he felt your grandmother was misinformed or remembers wrongly, particulary in light of sibling/offspring blood groups   but yes, it has made for an interesting read !!


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## solomum

just to point out that blood groups are probably a bit old hat by now.  My parents traced  relatives online by doing genealogical DNA searches.  I expect that DNA testing will soon be as common as blood testing once was.  so, if the OP is posting this, for the purposes of aiding those who wish not to tell, then it probably is not going to sufficiently close the door for a child finding out that they are not the biological offspring of their parents.


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## Lilly83

It's a very useful tool for us donor recipient ladies who often have to choose a donor by blood group, so it serves to assist us in our decisions 

Maybe in the future they may start matching donors by DNA but for now we get the blood group to go off

L x


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## solomum

you can have a child with a donor of any blood group - certainly I didn't even look at blood group when I conceived.
the only reason blood group becomes an issue if is you want the child to have a blood group that could be plausibly passed off as coming from both the parents (which I presume is why the OP is linking this to not telling). 
I know of two donor conceived children who found out this way that they were not the biological offspring of both their parents.  
My point is that choosing the 'right' blood group is no longer sufficient to conceal biological differences if your aim is not to tell - as DNA testing is becoming so prevalent, and DNA analysis so much more mainstream, that offspring are likely to find out through this route that they are not genetically related to of one of their parents.


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## Lilly83

I know  I agreed to take any, but some of us donor ladies like to match everything possible 

I think we should be mindful of not to do any 'scaremongering' and be supportive of those wishing not to tell, I'm sure they won't base their decision solely on this chart it's just something put together to assist 

I'm sure all ladies using donor conception are aware of the possibilitys of advances in testing in the future and I'm sure they will consider many factors when deciding 

L


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## bundles

Solomum if you read the start of my thread again you will see that it is in response to the many questions I get asked about potential blood groups of children from their own parental groups. 

Whilst DNA testing would obviously show a mis-match of 'genetic' parents where a donor or donors were used, I would seriously question whether any parent, who was trying to keep things a secret, would allow themselves to be tested ! And for a mis-match to be demonstrated this is exactly what would need to happen. I also doubt that, as you say, "DNA testing will soon be as common as blood testing once was" since blood testing is usually mainly done on the NHS to facilitate blood transfusion or other relevant reasons, it is hardly going to fade away. In my experience, most people are unaware of their own blood groups, let alone their parents, and I have even had to explain to a fertility nurse about heterozygous blood groups producing 'genetically impossible' off-spring.
In my opinion, DNA testing is generally carried out by older people who have an interest in genealogy or their place within the world's population. Younger people may be interested in their health & genetic risk factors but, again, this has little relation to their parents if they are not tested. Plus, there is always the change of spontaneous mutation in genetics to cause disease etc.
Having researched DNA testing previously, it isn't the easiest to understand. I would question how many people would seriously consider it if they weren't going to understand the answers.

I will also point out that this thread is to purely discuss blood groups and any further posts by anyone, that could be 'misconstrued' as 'pro-telling badgering' will be removed.


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## Shoegirl10

Hi this is brilliant thanks so much

I am RH 0 negative and my husband is Rh A positive 

x


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## rooneyb

Blood groups are very important in some countries. I live in the Middle East and we have our blood group on our residency visas and it is recorded on any official work and often asked. I would say nearly everyone here would know their blood type.  In some Asian countries, people know their blood type like they know their star signs! 
I have two DE children and one is clearly conceived thru donor conception because of the blood group mismatching (donor was changed at the last minute).  We used information like this to help us understand the their would be an over 70% chance that the child would have a blood group that didn't correlate to either my DH or myself. As  DE is illegal here, prior to my child's birth, we had to pick an understanding open minded doctor who would be present at the birth to get a birth certificate.
I just wanted to explain it may not be just about telling / not telling that this information is useful for.


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## TiggerBounces

Hi, I'm a bit confused, anyone help, I am O negative and my partner is A positive, we have been told this gives the broadest possibilities of all for a child's blood type... We are considering DE, I would like the donor to also produce the same possibilities.... How do I work it out....Orginally we were told should only have a O negative donor but then another clinic said any donor blood type fits the bill....Anyone help? Ive tried looking at the chart but am a bit tired at the moment and my brain isnt working


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## CrazyHorse

Hi, Tigger, using your own gametes, you and your partner could have children with A+, A-, O+, or O- blood types. The O blood types would only be possible if your partner is heterozygous for that trait (i.e., one gene for type A and one gene for type O), and the Rh-negative blood types would also only be possible if your partner is heterozygous for that trait (i.e., one gene for Rh-positive and one gene for Rh-negative). Of course, your doctors will have no idea if your partner is heterozygous or not. You could not have children with type B or AB blood using your and your partners gametes. A donor with type A or type O blood, either positive or negative, will give you a plausible blood type match.

You may want to consider having an Rh-negative donor so that you won't need anti-D treatment during pregnancy; but, if you are not telling your doctors and midwives about DE, they will want to give you anti-D injections anyway unless you tell them you know for certain your partner is also Rh-negative. As far as I know there's no risk to you from the anti-D injections, but they're intramuscular so not the most pleasant.


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## TiggerBounces

Thanks a lot CrazyHorse! thats brilliant!


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## Fox Gloves

Does anyone know if it matters if you don't know your OHs blood type? In the UK most people don't routinely know their blood type and you cant be tested for it so we have no way of knowing what my husbands blood type is. 

I am A Rh positive. Do I only accept an A rh + donor since I have no way of knowing what my husbands blood type is or are there other types I could accept not knowing his? 

I want the blood type to match since I don't plan on telling the child and whilst I am aware this isn't a fool proof way of no one finding out, everything we can do to get a close match will help.

Thanks


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## bundles

Hi hun  
You can buy blood group testing kits on Amazon quite cheaply. I thought most clinics wanted to know partners blood groups but I could be wrong. If you don't want to test then you would be ok accepting an A+ve or A-ve donor.
Xx


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## Fox Gloves

And this is why this forum is so amazing...... * potters off to amazon to buy blood testing kit* thank you so much bundles!!


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## Blondie71

Gosh I just realised I don't know my SD's blood type never thought to ask so don't know what my sons are   I'm O pos and I'm sure the boys blood type must be somewhere in their neo-natal notes as they took enough blood from them! Thanks for the info Bundles it's interesting stuff


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