Alexei had Hemophilia - Why Didn't Alix and Nicholas try Again?

[Forum Admin]

OK, yet again.
Bob very much will appreciate that the "merkin" topic no longer be discussed. We asked the LAST time it came up that it NOT be brought up again. Please, our website is listed curriculum material for well over one hundred fifty elementary, middle, and high school classrooms in the US, England and Australia, so we have a lot of kids coming in. Thanks for understanding.
FA

[Alexandra]

Dear Forum Administrator,
Request noted and filed. I did not know that it had previously been discussed, with a similar request, or I should not have posted it. I am sorry if I have inadvertently caused any difficulty. My work is in teaching adults, at a major university, and I was thinking in the vein of discussion which often ensues there.
May I also point out that I also addressed some queries about this subject to Mr King and Ms Wilson, co-authors of *The Fate of the Romanovs,* where I first read of it on p. 341. As I was at some pains to express to them that my query is entirely academic in nature, and in no way prurient, I should like to say so to you, as well. My interest lies very much in the domain of the medical aspects of the Tsaritsa's health, especially from a disciplinary crossover of endocrinology and psychiatry. Most of my students are retired professionals, who take the kind of course I offer from genuine and wide-ranging interest in many aspects of the people and events under discussion, and the topic is very likely to be raised by someone who has read the book.
But I am sorry if it caused you any inconvenience here.

Yours truly,

Katherine Alexandra M. Hines

[alinna]

Since females have random X inactivation in their cells, severity of carrier problems may depend on how many healthy/defective X's were inactivated?

Just a thought - remembered it from genetics class.

[ferngully]

there ia a theory that queen victoria's father was an unknown heamophillic because up until she was born, there wasn't a trace of it in the family
selina         xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Georgiy]

But if Queen Victoria's father had haemophilia, wouldn't he have suffered from the effects of the disease? Or is there a latent form of haemophilia?

[Forum Admin]

Hemophilia is what is known as a recessive trait. The father can be a carrier, but not suffer from the disease. Both parents have to have the recessive gene trait for the children to get the disease.

[Georgiy]

Thanks for clearing that up, FA. So maybe that ishow it got into QV's family - both her parents had the reccessive gene. (But where did it come from into the house of Hanover in that case? Was Queen Charlotte a carrier, or was it a spontaneous mutation?)

[alinna]

No, hemophilia is not a recessive trait.  It is an X-linked trait, meaning that it is carried on the X chromosome.  Since males only have 1 X chromosome, any males who carry the trait will exhibit hemophilia.  For a woman, who has two X chromosomes, they would have to have two defective genes, one on each X, to have the disease.  If they only have one defective gene, they are merely carriers.

[Georgiy]

Now I'm confused again! Who is right?

[ferngully]

sorry, what i meant was that queen victoria's father was not the royal, it was an unknown man with heamophilia as it can be traced back to her and no one before her, my phrasing was wrong sorry
selina         xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Belochka]

Recently a few books have emerged suggesting that Queen Victoria may have been illegitimate. The author's reasoning is usually based on a lack of understanding of basic genetic principles.

Queen Victoria at the time of her conception had a gene which had spontaneously mutated in utero. That defective gene manifested in the condition Hemophilia which she passed on to some but not all of her children.

With the passage of time down the generations and early deaths of all the affected individuals, the Hemophilia gene became a historic medical event among the European Royal Houses. It is no longer present.

All males who carry the defective gene will always present with Hemophilia, because the defective gene is always carried on the X chromosome. The actual condition can vary from mild to severe. These affected males will pass the condition down to only some their offspring:

Parents      h XY  - XX

Offspring    n XY  + XXh carrier female

                 (n = normal)

Another way for the male to 'contribute' Hemophilia to one of offspring is when his X sperm has spontaneously mutated at the time of conception of that child. The father of course is free of the condition.

In other words the Hemophilia gene is only present on X chromosomes. The source of that chromosome matters in genetic counselling.

 

[AlexeiLVR]

I was just reading this site about the Romanovs, and it said that Alexandra was pregnant 7 times, so if thats true, then where are the other two children? :-/

[bluetoria]

She had two miscarriages.

[AlexeiLVR]

what doese thar mean lol?

[otmafan]

It means that the baby died while unborn by natural causes.

One of Alix's miscarriages was brought on by the stress of the coronation in 1896.