Pregnant women with thalassemia are at high risk of passing the disease on to the fetus. If a pregnant woman has thalassemia but her husband is normal, there is a 50/50 chance that the fetus will be thalassemic. If both the pregnant woman and her husband are thalassemic, there is a 3/4 chance that the fetus will also be thalassemic. Thalassemia is a difficult disease to cure and early diagnosis is extremely important. If a pregnant woman has thalassemia, genetic testing of the fetus should usually be done in the third trimester of pregnancy. If the fetus has a mild form of thalassemia, it is important to have a checkup during pregnancy. If the fetus has a particularly severe form of thalassemia, the pregnancy may need to be terminated.