Baby's blood type (Is there a doctor in the house?)

I do not want to cause a stir but my son (who is O positive) and his wife
(who is also O positive) just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (who is
A positive). I have always known two O's will always make only another O
offspring. My son and his wife asked the doctor how this was possible and
the doctor said it was possible? I fear that his wife asked the doctor to
not discuss in detail this issue. Does anyone know for a fact that this
is possible for two O positive parents to have an A positive baby?? Thank
you.

Gramma wrote:
I do not want to cause a stir but my son (who is O positive) and his wife
(who is also O positive) just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (who is
A positive). I have always known two O's will always make only another O
offspring. My son and his wife asked the doctor how this was possible and
the doctor said it was possible? I fear that his wife asked the doctor to
not discuss in detail this issue. Does anyone know for a fact that this
is possible for two O positive parents to have an A positive baby?? Thank
you.

There are some very odd possibilities out there.
In general, yes it's true that two O's can only produce
another O. However, individuals who have the Bombay
phenotype can actually *have* the A and/or B alleles,
but test as type O. They can therefore pass on the
A or B to offspring, who would test as A or B or AB
(depending on the blood type of the other parent)
unless both parents happened to have the Bombay
phenotype. There may be other situations that could
cause two apparent O's to produce an A.
The one thing I would suggest is that if one
of the parents does have the Bombay phenotype, it might
be a good idea to find that out for sure. If there's
ever a need for blood in the future, someone with the
Bombay phenotype can only receive blood from someone
else with the Bombay phenotype, and that's not exactly
easy to find.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Gramma" wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
I do not want to cause a stir but my son (who is O positive) and his wife
(who is also O positive) just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (who is
A positive). I have always known two O's will always make only another O
offspring. My son and his wife asked the doctor how this was possible and
the doctor said it was possible? I fear that his wife asked the doctor to
not discuss in detail this issue.

I hope you can put your fears behind you and be a good grandmother to this
baby no matter what her blood type is.

My being a good grandmother is not even in question! I love this baby as
much as I love my other granddaughter and spoil them both rotten! Almost
to a fault, but that's what grandparents do. :-D My main concern is
because there was some question before the marriage and mom is now very
standoffish with dad (not allowing him to bond with their new daughter).

"Gramma" wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
My being a good grandmother is not even in question! I love this baby as
much as I love my other granddaughter and spoil them both rotten! Almost
to a fault, but that's what grandparents do. :-D My main concern is
because there was some question before the marriage and mom is now very
standoffish with dad (not allowing him to bond with their new daughter).


The blood type isn't the real issue, then.
I don't really advocate getting in the middle of other peoples' marital
problems.

"deja.blues" wrote in message
news:nHbNh.1308$5E3.1258@trndny01...

"Gramma" wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
My being a good grandmother is not even in question! I love this baby as
much as I love my other granddaughter and spoil them both rotten! Almost
to a fault, but that's what grandparents do. :-D My main concern is
because there was some question before the marriage and mom is now very
standoffish with dad (not allowing him to bond with their new daughter).


The blood type isn't the real issue, then.
I don't really advocate getting in the middle of other peoples' marital
problems.

I agree.

The best thing they can do is get into counseling. There are obviously a lot
of things that may be going on.

There also appears to be some question of the paternity of this baby. I
think that the results of the counseling will clear this issue up, but if
not, paternity testing may be needed to get definitive answers to your
question. Although blood type might be able to tell you whether or not the
child might be the daughter of a particular man, only paternity testing will
say for sure.

Good luck.

Jeff

On Mar 25, 8:40 pm, "Jeff" wrote:
"deja.blues" wrote in message

news:nHbNh.1308$5E3.1258@trndny01...



"Gramma" wrote in message
alkaboutparenting.com...
My being a good grandmother is not even in question! I love this baby as
much as I love my other granddaughter and spoil them both rotten! Almost
to a fault, but that's what grandparents do. :-D My main concern is
because there was some question before the marriage and mom is now very
standoffish with dad (not allowing him to bond with their new daughter).

The blood type isn't the real issue, then.
I don't really advocate getting in the middle of other peoples' marital
problems.

I agree.

The best thing they can do is get into counseling. There are obviously a lot
of things that may be going on.

There also appears to be some question of the paternity of this baby. I
think that the results of the counseling will clear this issue up, but if
not, paternity testing may be needed to get definitive answers to your
question. Although blood type might be able to tell you whether or not the
child might be the daughter of a particular man, only paternity testing will
say for sure.

Good luck.

Jeff

Kind of off topic, but when DD was born, the first day in NICU I was
looking at her chart and saw B+ and freaked. It didn't say anything
around the B+, so I asked the nurse if that was her blood type. She
said yes and I was incredulous. I am A+ and DH had always told me he
was A+. I *know* my DH is her father - altho when I question the blood
type the nurse looked at me funny and clearly wondered if she'd
stumbled into a marital issue. I was just panicking that maybe they
hadn't tested correctly in the rush and she was getting the wrong
blood (although, I don' t think she actually had any transfusions). DH
kept saying " I think I'm A+...." then he later realized he wasn't
really sure. He never did get tested though, I'm gathering he must
have B or at least AB.

There are some very odd possibilities out there.
In general, yes it's true that two O's can only produce
another O. However, individuals who have the Bombay
phenotype can actually *have* the A and/or B alleles,
but test as type O. They can therefore pass on the
A or B to offspring, who would test as A or B or AB
(depending on the blood type of the other parent)
unless both parents happened to have the Bombay
phenotype. There may be other situations that could
cause two apparent O's to produce an A.
The one thing I would suggest is that if one
of the parents does have the Bombay phenotype, it might
be a good idea to find that out for sure. If there's
ever a need for blood in the future, someone with the
Bombay phenotype can only receive blood from someone
else with the Bombay phenotype, and that's not exactly
easy to find.

well remembered Ericka, I knew it was possible, by some anomaly that meant A
or B was present, but tested as O, but couldn't remember what it was called,
being the helpful type, had you not posted it, I'd have gone hunting to find
out what it was, so you've saved me some time!

Anne

In article .com,
"cjra" wrote:

was A+. I *know* my DH is her father - altho when I question the blood
type the nurse looked at me funny and clearly wondered if she'd
stumbled into a marital issue. I was just panicking that maybe they
hadn't tested correctly in the rush and she was getting the wrong
blood (although, I don' t think she actually had any transfusions). DH
kept saying " I think I'm A+...." then he later realized he wasn't
really sure. He never did get tested though, I'm gathering he must
have B or at least AB.

FYI, I imagine that it's the same in the USA as he blood type is retested
every time blood is transfused/donated, to prevent the mistake you envisaged.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

On Mar 26, 11:44 pm, Chookie wrote:
In article .com,

"cjra" wrote:
was A+. I *know* my DH is her father - altho when I question the blood
type the nurse looked at me funny and clearly wondered if she'd
stumbled into a marital issue. I was just panicking that maybe they
hadn't tested correctly in the rush and she was getting the wrong
blood (although, I don' t think she actually had any transfusions). DH
kept saying " I think I'm A+...." then he later realized he wasn't
really sure. He never did get tested though, I'm gathering he must
have B or at least AB.

FYI, I imagine that it's the same in the USA as he blood type is retested
every time blood is transfused/donated, to prevent the mistake you envisaged.

Yes, it is. You won't be given a transfusion unless you're tested. So
though people like to make a point of having there blood type written
somewhere, it's not that big of a deal.

It was actually a funny moment in the midst of a very terrifying time.
The nurse probably thought we were loony joking about paternity at
such a difficult moment, but it helped us relieve the tension...