Can a man with the sickle cell trait and a Rh- woman have a healthy child?

Question

Can a man with the sickle cell trait and a Rh- woman have a healthy child?

Answer 1

Absolutely.  The Rh factor has nothing to do with sickle-cell disease. Also, if the father has sickle cell trait, it means he is heterozygous for this trait. He has one "normal" copy of that allele, and one sickle-cell copy. He does not have sickle-cell anemia, which requires 2 copies of the sickle-cell allele. So, assuming the mother has two "normal" copies, any child has a 50% chance of having sickle-cell trait, and 50% chance of having "normal" blood. Only if both parents have sickle-cell trait or sickle-cell disease can the child have sickle-cell disease.

Answer 2

Sure.  Being Rh- doesn't cause a disease, so even if the child is Rh-, it will be okay.  If the father has sickle cell anemia and is homozygous recessive, if the mother does not have the sickle cell allele, then the child will only be a carrier and won't exhibit the disease of sickle-cell anemia.  Hey, the child would even show some resistance to malaria!