This does not produce anemia, and the person will never become ill from it. If two people lacking one alpha gene have children, one in four of their children on average will inherit both mutations, and therefore produce only one alpha chain in each molecule. This is called alpha thalessemia trait, and it produces a mild anemia which has the characteristics of iron deficiency. However, people with this condition are usually not deficient in iron. If both alpha chains are missing because four mutated genes have been inherited, the child will be stillborn or die shortly after birth.
Mutations involving the beta chain are common in people of southern European extraction.
There are several types of beta chains, so the inheritance is more complicated. There is beta thalessemia trait, which, like alpha thalessemia trait, produces moderate anemia with the characteristics of iron deficiency, and then there is the disease beta thalessemia, also called Cooley's anemia, in which the anemia is very severe and the child must have frequent transfusions to survive. If there is a question about whether a person has alpha or beta thalessemia trait, a test called hemoglobin electophoresis will often differentiate between the two. So the son of our writer has either alpha or beta thalessemia trait. This can never change into the disease, and any, more severe anemia that may develop would be the result of some other condition, not the thalessemia trait.