Reproductive compensation in families segregating for Cooley's anaemia in Ferrara

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Abstract
The reproductive performance of 100 families segregating for Cooley''s anemia was studied and compared to the performance of 127 control families. The control families were those of the sibs of the parents in the segregating families. No difference was found in the variables which might affect fertility and fecundity in control and thalassemic families, although a different shape of the distribution of the number of births per family was found; the distribution had a higher variance in thalassaemics than in controls. The interval between the birth of a normal and an affected child is significantly longer than the interval between the birth of an affected child and a subsequent one. These findings are apparently indicative of reproductive compensation in families segregating for Cooley''s anemia, and of the moderate effect of the genetic counseling given to them.