All Comments on 'Emergency, Lifesaving Sex'

Now that was something different. Good work. Maybe Betsy named the baby Hope because she hoped it wouldn't look too much like Ethan.

you surprised me. glad to see a story with more than sex.

Clever guy. Pretends to have sickle cell just to get some tail and knocks up his neighbour

Ethan's sister had long blonde hair. That meant that Ethan's bloodlines were Northern European. Black people have the majority of sickle cell cases, but people from the Mediterranean rim can have it too. These people have black hair. So the chances of Ethan having sickle cell anemia were so low as to be virtually impossible. This makes the whole premise of the story bogus. Not even GBShaw would have dared to base a story on such a flimsy premise.

Genetics is destiny. Ask any cattle breeder

An author took liberties with the truth! HA!

Sickle cell anemia is found almost exclusively in people of African descent. Yes, all Homo sapiens came originally from Africa, but the sickle cell mutated gene developed after our species migrated into Europe and Asia and took on distinctly "racial" characteristics. Emma's long blonde hair, unless it was a wig or dye job, means that a majority of her DNA comes from northern Europe where the mutation causing blonde hair and blue eyes and very light skin developed. Sickle cell is found almost exclusively in black people--people whose majority ancestors are from sub-Saharan Africa as recently as 4 centuries ago. So, unless either Emma or Ethan were adopted or half-siblings, more than just the cure for priapsism is bullshit in your story.

I don't mean to harp. This was an enjoyable read and I was "suspending disbelief" until this one glaring problem took me out of the story. We "whites" are subject to other genetic disorders, but almost never sickle cell. If someone who is white, blonde, and blue eyed gets sickle cell, there's been some interracial coupling in the recent past,

Also, the fact that Betsy doesn't have the gene doesn';t mean that a child of hers and Ethan's coupling couldn't get it. We get our genes from BOTH our parents after all.

Winstanley, Thanks for reading my story. I strive to write believable stories with believable characters. I did some research before giving a white guy sickle cell anemia. If the experts had told me it wasn't possible, I would have made the characters another race.

My googling showed that sickle cell is not a 'black' disease. It is mutation that came about because it protects humans against malaria. It is more common in people whose ancestors come from parts of the world where malaria is or was frequent.

According to the World Health Organizations, these regions include: sub-Saharan and Northeast Africa

Spanish-speaking regions of the Americas, the Caribbean, Eastern Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Greece, and Turkey, the Middle East,, and South Asia

According to blackdoctor.org It is more common in people of African descent, but the sickle cell trait can also affect Hispanics, South Asians, Caucasians from southern Europe, as well as people from Middle Eastern countries.

You mention "the fact that Betsy doesn't have the gene doesn't mean that a child of hers and Ethan's coupling couldn't get it. We get our genes from BOTH our parents after all."

According to gemone.gov "A baby born with sickle cell disease inherits a gene for the disorder from both parents. When both parents have the genetic defect, there's a 25 percent chance that each child will be born with sickle cell disease.

If a child inherits only one copy of the defective gene (from either parent), there is a 50 percent chance that the child will carry the sickle cell trait. People who only carry the sickle cell trait typically don't get the disease, but can pass the defective gene on to their children."

Only Ethan has/had the sickle cell.

Thanks for reading reading so closely. I don't just wing it. For me, part of the fun is doing research for my stories.