Understanding Rh Factor & Its Inheritance: A Comprehensive Guide

Question
I would like to know if 1.this problem only pretains to the mother 2. If the mother has the RH factor does it affect each pregnany?  
I am not affected, but my two brothers were.  Does this mean then, that we could have had different fathers?  I am 60 years old and have wondered this for years.  There seems to be questions around that this will answer.  Thankyou


Answer
A man or a woman can have different blood types.  If the person has the Rh factor in their blood they are Rh Positive. If they do not have the Rh factor in their blood, they are Rh Negative.  If a man impregnates a woman, his sperm contain his blood factors and the woman's egg contains her blood factors. If she has Rh positive blood, and her husband has Rh negative blood, the baby will have Rh positive blood and there will be no problem because there is no "foreign" factor in her baby. If she has Rh negative blood and the father has Rh negative blood there still is no problem because there still is not a foreign factor in her body. However, if the mother has Rh negative blood (no Rh factor) and her baby has Rh positive blood (due to receiving the Rh factor from the father), the mother's immune system recognizes the baby as being "foreign" and creates antibodies to the Rh Positive factor. This can cause problems or even death for the growing baby.   You can get your blood type from your father or from your mother and if you are Rh positive and your brothers are Rh negative it does not mean that you had different fathers. It just means that your brothers got your mother's blood type and you got your father's blood type.