Tests intending couples must undergo before saying ‘I do’

By Sade Adewale
Weddings are exciting and wonderful. You go all-in in celebration of love, commitment and true friendship. While all merry-making preparations are ongoing, an aspect you should never forget is your health status, both of you.
Health status is an all-round summary of physical and psychological well-being. Thus, usually, when people make up their minds to go on the forever journey together, it is often advised that they consult a doctor, run a series of check-ups, and take pre-marriage medical tests to ascertain their health status.
A great advantage pre-marriage medical tests offer is early detection. Early detection offers an opportunity for treatment early on before the marriage.
Medical tests before the wedding would equip you and your partner with the needed information to keep yourselves safe and prepared in cases of diagnosed infections or conditions.
Certain health concerns can frustrate compatibility and affect children negatively, healthwise. A pre-marriage test can help couples make the right and most informed decisions in the interest of their wellbeing and that of their unborn children.
Speaking with The Hope, a Medical practitioner, Doctor Taiwo Momore said the pre-marriage medical tests necessary for couples to get done is the blood group and compatibility tests. These tests usually help couples stay informed on their respective blood groups and compatibility for blood donation in future.
Momore noted that blood group and compatibility tests also keep the couple in the loop of risks and factors associated with rhesus disease, a condition that causes antibodies in a pregnant woman to destroy the blood cells of her foetus.
According to him, checking blood group compatibility would automatically have their rhesus factors checked and if there is any, the woman will be prescribed some drugs and to ensure the healthiness and safety of the foetus if the woman is already pregnant or about to.
He said Genotype and genotype compatibility is important as a pre-marriage medical test because it affects future offspring directly. The genotype of parents defines the genotype of offspring.
Momore noted that specific genotype groupings should not pair up in marriage to avoid the risk of kid(s) with the sickle cell condition. They include AS, AC, SS, and SC genotypes.
The Doctor added that couples who have been previously active sexually, it is always recommended to run screening on possible sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis, gonorrhoea, herpes, chlamydia, bacterial vaginosis, yeast infection to mention a few.
He noted that early treatment would ensure that both are safe to lead a smooth and healthy sexual life.
On her part, Mrs Ireti Omofolarin said that HIV & AIDS are easily transmittable from one person to the other sexually or through sores, or cuts caused by using unsterilised sharp items like knives, clippers, scissors, etc.
Omofolarin added that couples will be advised and counselled rightly by doctors and professionals on how best to stay safe during sex, and the necessaries to do in consideration of childbearing.
According to her, having kids is intricate and important when getting into the lifelong commitment of marriage, especially with premeditated health conditions, or even a history of fertility concerns in the family.
She added that there are some things to check for fertility. Some include PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), hormonal imbalance, fibroids, cervical cancer, endometriosis in women, as well as sperm counts, prostate cancer, and sterility in men.
Omofolarin said pre- marital test is very important, while advising them to take necessary and recommended medical tests before marriage.
Speaking with The Hope, Doctor Adeola Adewumi said that intending couples should know their genotype before getting married in order to prevent the complications associated with the disease. He stated this while expressing concern over a global statistics, which submits that 75 percent of sickle cell cases in the world occur in Nigeria due to ignorance.
According to her, the implications of be ignoring test before marriage is that the disease entity can be transmitted unknowingly, but if they both know their status, then they can decide to continue or either ways on the union.
Adewumi noted that couples should go for some tests such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, sickle cell diseases among others to avoid complications.
The medical expert noted that couples must do different tests before they get married so as to save their home after marriage, she saying this is because there is better awareness now and pre-marital counseling for intending couples.
She added that diseases that may affect marital life should be disclosed before concluding the marriage contract, while advising intending couples to go for tests before their wedding.
Adewumi, therefore, charged intending couples to do pre-marital test before exchanging marital vows in order to avoid crises in their marriage.
Also speaking, Doctor Idris exchanging couples buy wedding dresses, decide the venue and final the guests lists in the preparations to a marriage, saying as they are doing their it is equally important to prioritize fertility and sexual health so that certain precautions can be taken to avoid stressful conception or unsatisfied sexual life in future.
Amos noted that there have been several cases of STD, HIV, hepatitis B and C and other diseases in the country. Hereditary diseases are genetically transmitted from one generation to the other and this cause a lot of havoc in marriages.
He, therefore, advised them not to only go for a blood test to see if they are physically fit, but also a psychological test to see if they are mentally fit to endure the trials and tribulations of marriage.