Additional treatments continue to be developed and may have a role with the individual with thalassemia who wishes to have a biological child. There are several additional options for individuals with thalassemia who are unable to overcome barriers to fertility. Egg or sperm donation is available when an individual is unable to produce viable germ cells due to iron overload. This may have the dual effect of eliminating the chance of a hemoglobin disease for couples at risk. Although unconventional, there may be a role for surrogate mothers for women who are unable to conceive or carry a pregnancy to term.
Adoption also provides a way to become a parent.
There are many factors that may be important in deciding first, whether one wants children, and second, how much of a financial and emotional investment one is willing to make in the quest to become a parent. While this is true for any prospective parent, individuals with thalassemia have additional medical barriers to overcome. Even if one is able to have children, the health status of the parent with thalassemia may be an important factor in deciding whether this is in his or her, or the child's, best interest. Those who do not conceive or become parents through alternate means are likely to experience varying degrees of grief over the loss of the child that was wished for. There is a range of responses from anger to numbness to depression that are all normal and valid.