Do one or both parents have to have sickle cell anemia in order for this trait to pass on to their children?

No.: The parents could both be carriers of the sickle cell mutation on one of their two beta globin genes. Their other gene could be normal. This condition is called sickle cell trait. These people are usually asymptomatic with normal red cell indices. The child could have two copies of the mutant beta globin gene, one from each parent. Their is a 25% chance of this. For more details, consult your dr.

Enter an answer: Only one parent with sickle cell disease (2 genes positive for hemoglobin s) is needed to pass the sickle cell trait (one gene) on to their children. Patients with only one gene are considered to have sickle trait only, and do not have the severe form, sickle cell disease, where both genes carry sickle cell mutation.