How does hemophilia affect girls after they get periods?

Question

Hello doctor,

I have got a question about my sister’s baby girl. She has inherited hemophilia genes from her dad’s side, and they knew about it beforehand, so they had the DNA checked. They told me it does not really affect females, only males. Is that actually true? I am a bit worried about what might happen when she gets older, especially when she starts getting her periods. Could the gene still cause problems for her, like heavy bleeding or other issues? Any advice on what they should be prepared for or how to manage this would be really helpful.

Kindly guide.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

Regarding your queries,

As you mentioned, hemophilia mainly affects males since it is an X-linked recessive disease. Females are usually the only carriers. Very rarely, females develop the disease if two abnormal genes are inherited from both father and mother, for which DNA analysis has to be checked for both her parents.
She can have heavy menstrual bleeding as she grows older.
Her genes will not cause her many problems as she is only a carrier.
She can pass on her genes to her children, so she must get a DNA analysis checked for her male partner before getting married.

I hope this is helpful.

Thank you.