Marriage tests are vital for a happy and healthy marriage; it is an opportunity to know your partner and ensure you are both medically compatible. Marriage is such a beautiful union, and if you have found that one amazing person, you are ready to spend the rest of your life with a big congratulations to you.
We all know getting married in Nigeria can be a bit overwhelming with so many traditional obligations, but that notwithstanding, you shouldn’t ignore the place of medical compatibility in marriage because it can have long-term consequences for your marriage. So this guide talks about the 7 essential marriage tests you and your partner should take before marriage to ensure you have a happy home with healthy children.
Why is Pre-Marital Screening Important
If, for some reason, you are still wondering why pre-marital screening is essential, here is why.
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Give Your Marriage a Healthy Start
Starting a marriage with peace of mind and happiness is what every couple desires and one of the ways to achieve this is by being sure of your medical compatibility with your partner. Many couples avoid pre-marital screening based on certain beliefs and misconceptions about health, but it is wrong.
You need to give your marriage a healthy start by knowing that you and your partner are free from all diseases, or knowing if you need protection from anything, and ensuring you are medically compatible.
Save Time and Effort
If a couple finds out 2 years into their marriage that they can’t have healthy kids because their blood type does not match, it will be disheartening and very confusing for them, but if they had done pre-marital screening, they would have found out on time.
Also, pre-marital screening can help couples discover health risks and diseases they can treat on time and be free instead of finding out when it is too late. So marriage tests go a long way to help couples save time and effort; couples will know from the beginning if they should get marriage or go their separate ways.
Avoid any Infectious Disease Before Marriage
Another reason marriage tests are very important is so couples can know what they need protection from; you can avoid contracting an infectious disease from your partner if you find out on time and seek medical advice or help.
To Birth Healthy Kids
If you have ever seen a child with sickle cell anaemia, then you will know the struggles they face to live a normal life; such conditions could have been avoided if the parents had done proper medical screening before getting married.
So marriage tests can play a significant role in helping you have healthy children in your marriage. Aside from blood type, other genetic disorders in children can also be avoided with pre-marriage screening.
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7 Essential Marriage Tests in Nigeria
So now that you know why marriage tests are very important, here are the 7 essential diagnostic tests for marriage in Nigeria.
Blood Group and Compatibility Tests
This marriage test tops our list because of its extreme importance; it is a test that tells you your blood groups and compatibility for blood donation in the future. This diagnostic test for marriage is crucial because it informs couples of the risk associated with Rhesus disease. A condition that causes antibodies in pregnant women to destroy the blood cells of their foetus.
Checking your blood group’s compatibility would also automatically confirm your Rhesus factors.
In cases of incompatibility, the woman would be given a Rho(D) immune globulin (RhIG) injection, which will eliminate the risk of Rhesus disease and ensure the woman has a healthy pregnancy.
Genotype Marriage Test
Genotype and genotype compatibility are also some of the essential diagnostic tests for marriage because they directly affect your future offspring. How so? Children inherit a combination of genes from their parents which becomes their own genotype. This plays an important role in determining children’s genetic makeup and whether or not they could be sickle cell carriers.
Sickle cell disease is a disturbing condition that can steal the joy in people’s lives, so doctors have advised that specific genotypes should not pair up in marriage to avoid the risk of birthing kids with sickle cell conditions.
So before marriage, you and your prospective partner should go for genotype screening and ensure you are compatible. Here is a breakdown of genotype compatibility and the resulting genotypes of their offspring, assuming each couple has 4 kids.
| Couple | Offspring | Compatibility |
|---|---|---|
| AA + AA | AA, AA, AA, AA. | Excellent |
| AA + AS | AA, AS, AA, AS. | Good |
| AA + AC | AA, AA, AA, AC. | Good |
| AA + SS | AS, AS, AS, AS. | Fair |
| AS + AC | AA, AC, AS, SS. | Bad |
| AS + SS | AS, SS, SS, SS. | Very bad |
| AC + AC | AA, AC, AC, SS. | Bad |
| AC + SS | AS, AS, SS, SS. | Very bad |
| SS + SS | SS, SS, SS, SS. | Very bad |
| AS + AS | AA, AS, AS, SS. | Very bad |
STD Screening
For couples who have been sexually active in the past, it is always important to go for STD screening to detect possible sexually transmitted infections. There are so many STDs you can check for, but the common ones include gonorrhoea, syphilis, bacteria vaginosis, herpes, yeast infection, chlamydia, etc.
Having any of these STDs does not mean the marriage will not work as planned; the screening will only help for easy detection so you or your partner can get treated. This will ensure you are safe to lead a smooth and healthy post-wedding sexual life.
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a disease of the liver; it can cause serious health challenges and even death. Hepatitis can be transmitted through different means, including sex, body fluids, as well as the faecal-oral route. So it is only right to add this disease to the list of essential diagnostic tests for marriage.
Whether or not an individual has been sexually active, they can be carriers of this disease since it is not only transmittable through sex. So before your wedding, consider screening for all variance of hepatitis, including hepatitis A, B, C, and D.
HIV 1 & 11 and Aids Tests
HIV & AIDS are some of the most popularly known diseases in Nigeria, and so many people get chills at the thought of taking the test. Still, that test is crucial before marriage for many reasons. HIV & AIDS are easily transmittable through sex, sores and cuts from unsterilised clippers, scissors, surgical instruments, knives, blades etc.
So to stay safe in marriage, you and your partner must take the test. Couples shouldn’t be scared of retroviral screening because so many things have been put in place to take care of people living with HIV & AIDS. Hence, if tested positive, they can still have a successful marriage with healthy children.
Infected persons are given medical advice and counselling by doctors and professionals to teach them the best ways to stay safe during sex and the necessary things to do for childbearing.
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Fertility Test
This is also one of the essential diagnostic tests for marriage in Nigeria. Although some couples intentionally do not want kids but for so many others, having kids is an intricate part of their union. So before you get married, you and your partner need to go for fertility tests; mind you, this test is available and crucial for both men and women.
With fertility tests, you will be able to detect and confirm certain conditions that can hinder childbearing, such as fibroids, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), cervical cancer, hormonal imbalance, and endometriosis in women, as well as prostate cancer, sterility and low sperm counts in men. The early detection of any of these issues can help a couple get the treatment and medical advice they need before marriage.
Chronic Medical Conditions
Before tying the knot in marriage, it will be best to learn about all existing medical conditions to help couples give each other the necessary care they need.
In addition, early diagnosis of certain conditions, like high blood pressure, kidney disease, liver problems, heart illnesses, diabetes, etc., can create the opportunity for swift medical intervention and vital lifestyle changes. So when going for marriage tests, take the liberty and screen yourself for other medical conditions that may be asymptomatic now.
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The marriage tests discussed above are some of the most essential and common tests couples should take before getting married. Still, if there are other tests you need, your doctor will recommend them to you after asking some questions or based on the results of the tests in this guide.
So while planning a beautiful wedding, I hope this guide helps you get the right things done in time to ensure a beautiful marriage.
