Model Marriage
- Confirm any past relationships.
- Ascertain, if any, incidence(s) of fornication both past and present. It will also
allow you to know if they are virgins. - Confirm whether present relationship is smooth or stormy.
- Know how soon they intend to marry. Unduly long relationships are not
encouraged.
Ten Facts to Discover through the Official Recognition of a Relationship- Name and age of both the man and woman.
- Date the relationship began.
- How long they have known each other.
- Sickle cell status of both the man and woman.^1
- H.I.V. status of both the man and woman.^2
- Any other medical condition eg. epilepsy, blood pressure, high fever, etc.
- Educational background of both the man and woman.
- Working experience of both the man and woman.
- Parental knowledge and consent.
- Tentative wedding date.
Sickle Cell and HIV TestsThe relevance of this lesson is to place the request by the church for a sickle cell test and an
HIV test into proper perspective.
Sickle Cell TestIf the couple have a result of “AA” (sickling negative) and “AS” there is no real problem.
If both of the beloveds have an “S” somewhere (that is, sickling positive), the counsellor
should advise a break-up of the relationship for the following reasons:
There is a 25% chance of having an “SS” child, which means that any or all of their
children could be “SS”. It could also mean that none may be “SS”.
This situation could also be compared to having a boy or girl. There is a 50% chance of
having a boy or girl. This means that one could have all children as boys or all as girls.