My Greek Ancestor

Courtesy of this pregnancy I have learned that I am a carrier for thalessemia trait.  Which means I have thalessemia minor.  Minor really captures the it!  It doesn't really mean that much for me. I will probably always have low iron- as it impacts how my body takes in iron- but other than that it isn't a big deal  for me. 

This is a genetic trait which means that I received it from one of my parents but not both or I would have thalasemia major- which is a big freaking deal and can be horrible.  I'm not really going there right now though since Sean isn't a carrier it doesn't really affect our children unless one of them is a carrier and reproduces with another carrier (even then the likelyhood of thalessemia is low).

Why I am blogging about this though is that this diseasse is a risk factor for people who are from Africa, Asia or the mediterreanean.  But alas, my family is insanely German and Irish.  In fact, I have never heard ancestory from anywhere else.

So somewhere along the line someone snuck in.  I wonder is it an ancient trait that I  carry- some Visi-goth brought and Italian back to Germany? Were my Irish ancestors hooking up with someone from a Spanish shipwreck? Is it more modern like there is a secret African American in the family that we don't talk about?  Who knows? Maybe it's a random fluke.

But all in all, I am fascinated by the way that my family history is playing out in my genetics.  It makes me feel connected to a story. A story that has mystery and unknown curves, personalities, and yes perhaps diseases.