Ernest and Theresa are madly in love, engaged and about to be married. During their engagement they find out that they both possess the AS genotype which means that if they have children there is the chance that they could be a sickler. They are told in no uncertain terms by Ernest’s father that they must stop seeing each other as the health of their future children is of greater importance than the love that they share.

If you were madly in love and about to get married would you give up your love because your kids MIGHT have sickle cell? That is unimaginable to me, but obviously these things do happen. Theresa and Ernest are treated as if they are murderers by their friends and family. The empathy is totally lacking as if it were solely a business arrangement they had been planning and not a couple in love planning a life long union.

After they are spoken to by Ernest’s father Theresa flees the house and they agree to separate. Both parties take it badly, turning to booze in a bid to numb the pain of the break-up. We see them both on separate occasions chatting up the opposite sex while drunk, the heartbreak so abundantly clear.