Pre-marital health checkup culture growing in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Marriage is considered a remarkable event in a couple’s life as they plan to start a family and through which they usher in a new stage in terms of building emotional, social, familial, and healthy relationships.

Premarital testing programs should educate couples, providing accurate and unbiased information about the family background and hereditary factors.

For couples considering marriage, pre-marital health checkups help identify potential health problems and risks for themselves and also their offspring. It is vital for couples to be screened in order to aid them to understand their genetics and help them take the necessary precautions or treatments.

Parents of girls and boys are giving importance to pre-marital health checkup profiles.  Currently, this culture is prevailing in the posh areas of the city but its spread in other areas cannot be ruled out.

There are many reasons for this development including environmental changes as people are suffering from various diseases which impact their marital life.

There are many families who hide the diseases of their offspring before marriage which can lead to many issues in the life of the couples in the future including the inability to get children.

According to a survey, many educated families are seeking medical health checkup reports before fixing the marriages and they are giving green signals only if such reports are approved by their family doctors.

Currently, there are four main tests:

1. STD Test:  Sexually Transmitted Diseases test reveals syphilis, gonorrhea, and other diseases which are likely to be spread through contact and can deprive the couple to have offspring.

2. Hemoglobin/Thalassemia Test: To find out Thalassemia or Merkel cells which if found in couples their offspring could also become victims of this disease.

3. Fertility Test:  This test is carried out to find out whether childbirth is possible or not.

4. CBC Test: Complete blood cell count test reveals the condition of the kidney and liver.

Doctor Pratibha Lakshmi of Osmania Hospital says, “It is necessary for the couple to undergo premarital health checkup.  To hide the diseases before marriage is unethical.  When such diseases are revealed in future they may lead to complications in their relationship.”

However, there are instances when marriages were called off merely upon asking for a health profile. Similarly, there are also cases where the marriages were called off due to the adverse medical report.