What blood type will my child have? Although blood group inheritance is a complicated process, there is a high probability that you can check it before the birth - as long as you know your dad's blood type and blood type, as well as your Rh factors.

A blood group is a set of antigens located on red blood cells (erythrocytes). In humans, there are four basic blood groups - A, B, AB and 0. Additionally, each of these groups may additionally have the Rh factor (i.e. the presence of the D antigen) or not.

What does the blood type depend on?

The fact that there are different blood groups was first proved by Karl Landsteiner in 1901, he also initially distinguished three blood groups (A, B and 0 - he named the latter as group C), for which he received in 1930 . The Nobel Prize. In 1940, Landsteiner and Alexander Wiener discovered the Rh factor.

However, we owe the possibility of determining the blood type of a child to another scientist - Gregor Mendel, a Czech naturalist and monk, who was the abbot of the Augustinian order in Brno. Mendel, working on the inheritance of the characteristics of the common pea, in 1866 came to the conclusion and then proved that in nature there are rules according to which the inheritance of features takes place (this discovery was later called Mendel's laws).

According to Mendel's first law, in each gamete, i.e. the reproductive cell produced by the organism, there is one allele (a version of a gene placed in a specific place on a specific chromosome, the so-called inheritance unit) responsible for inheriting a specific trait. In accordance with Mendel's second law, genes that determine the inheritance of a specific trait are linked randomly.

One of these alleles is dominant and the other is recessive. At fertilization, the allele obtained from the mother combines with the allele from the father, resulting in the formation of a cell with a new pair of genes on which the blood group depends. The blood type of a child is largely determined at the time of conception. However, in humans, the blood group cannot be fully determined until around the second birthday, due to the fact that the antigens that appear on the surface of red blood cells fully mature by 18 months of age.

Blood group: inheritance

The answer to the question of who the child inherits fromblood group is simple - like its other characteristics, the child inherits it from its parents. Due to the rules governing inheritance, however, this does not mean that the child will have the same blood type as mom or dad - although of course it may be.

Why? Each parent passes on one of the alleles to the child, with the blood group A and blood group alleles dominating the group 0 allele. If mum or dad has blood type 0, their offspring will also have blood type 0. Still, the situation becomes more complicated. When the parents have AB blood type, they have both A and B alleles.

If they have blood group A or B, they can have two of the same alleles (A alleles for group A and B alleles for group B), or only one allele for their blood type, plus the 0 allele. A if they both have different blood types, it is even more difficult to figure out what blood type their child will have.

The Rh factor is also hereditary. Here, however, the matter is much less complicated, as the Rh factor can be either positive or negative. Therefore, if both parents are Rh negative, the baby will also be Rh negative. If both parents are Rh positive, the baby may be Rh + or Rh-. It is the same when one of the parents is Rh + and the other is Rh -.

Blood group: table

The blood type of a child can be checked in various ways. The simplest method is the child's blood group calculator, which, after entering the specified data, will automatically determine whether the child will have blood group A, B, AB, O, and with what Rh factor. The inheritance of blood groups according to the Rh system and the AB0 system can also be checked in special tables.

Why should I know my blood type?

Knowing the blood group, both one's own and that of the child, is important primarily because in the bodies of people with blood group A and blood group B, special proteins are produced from birth - antibodies that distinguish A and B antigens.

If there is an emergency situation where blood transfusion is necessary (for example after an accident), when time is of the essence, and the wrong type of blood is transfused, a serious antibody-induced post-transfusion reaction could occur. Antigens are not produced for blood group AB, and therefore people with this blood group can have blood from any blood group transfused.

Blood group - yours and your partner's - should also be known to pregnant women, due to a possible conflict of blood groups, also known as a serological conflict.

Child's blood group and fatherhood

The child's group is rarely considered in paternity. ANDthis is because it is not uncommon for a child's blood group to differ from those of their parents and is due to the pattern of inheritance of the major blood groups. According to them:

- When one parent has group A and the other parent has group A, the child can have group A or 0. - When one parent has group A and the other parent has group 0, the child can have group A or 0.- When one parent has group A or 0. the parent has group A and the other parent has group B, the child may have group A, B, AB or 0. - When one parent has group A and the other parent has group AB, the child may have group A, B or AB - When one parent has group A, B or AB. group B and the second group B, the child may have group B or 0. - When one parent has group B and the other parent has group 0, the child may have group B or 0. - When one parent has group B and the other parent has AB, the child may have group B, A or AB - When one parent has group AB and the other parent has group 0, the child may have group A or B. - When one parent has group AB and the other parent has group AB, child may have group A, B or AB. Only when both parents are in group 0, then the child is always in group 0.

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