The Sista Collective meets women for whom sickle cell disease has changed their lives.

Whether it’s living with the illness or finding out you are a carrier and having to give up the love of your life or the hope of children, the Sistas talk about the inherited condition that needs to be addressed openly.

From painful and sometimes life threatening symptoms to finding out you might pass it on to your babies, meet the women who have had to learn to live with the illness written into their own genetic code.

Letitia George, Aminata Kamara and Simone Riley join Jessie Aru-Phillips for Episode 4 of Season 3 of the #SisCollective.

Produced by Carly Appleby (BBC Radio Gloucestershire) and Karen Gabay (BBC Radio Manchester). Originally broadcast on BBC Radio Merseyside.