How Do I Find Out if I Have Sickle Cell Trait?

To find out if you have sickle cell trait, ask a parent or your doctor whether they know if you do. If they don’t know, your doctor can send you for a blood test to find out.

This simple blood test has a big name: It's called a hemoglobin electrophoresis (pronounced: HEE-muh-glow-bin eh-lek-truh-fer-EE-sis) test. It measures your hemoglobin, the part of your red blood cells that carries oxygen. Doctors also use the test to find out if someone has sickle cell disease, thalassemia, or other health problems that affect the blood.

After you get the hemoglobin electrophoresis test, your doctor will tell you what the test results mean.