IVF with PGD, preimplantation genetic diagnosis stops the transmission of hereditary disease
If you or your partner has or is a carrier of a genetic disorder, one of your greatest concerns may be passing this known heritable disease down to your children. Through preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in conjunction with in vitro fertilization (IVF), our Las Vegas Fertility Center can eliminate the worry, so you can focus on the joy of pregnancy and birth.
How PGD works
The goal of IVF with PGD is to create and genetically screen a group of embryos so that only those that are proven healthy can be selected for transfer to the woman’s uterus. Preconception genetic carrier screening can determine whether you or your partner are a carrier of an inheritable genetic illness.
The process is just like a typical IVF cycle, with one important difference: On the fifth or sixth day after fertilization, a few placental cells are removed from each blastocyst and sent to a reference laboratory, where they are carefully screened for a specific genetic disorder.
PGD can be used to screen embryos for a wide array of heritable disorders.
- Marfan syndrome, Huntington disease and other autosomal dominant genetic diseases
- Cystic fibrosis and other recessive genetic diseases
- Hemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and other X-linked genetic diseases
After biopsy, all of the embryos are frozen. Once results are received and you are ready to move ahead with embryo transfer, only those embryos that are proven to be disease-free are used. Because PGD can also indicate the gender of each embryo, you can also make informed choices about gender preference and family balancing, as well as sex-linked genetic disease.
By performing the biopsy at a later stage of embryo development, using placental rather than fetal cells, this advanced procedure is more accurate and less likely to damage the embryo than PGD sampling on earlier-stage embryos.
Put your worries to rest
PGD helps people concerned about genetic disorders avoid the difficult decisions that can come with prenatal testing for genetic disease after the pregnancy has already been established.
If you or your partner has a family history of genetic disease, it’s important to ask your fertility specialist about PGD so that you can protect your future children and learn more about your carrier status.
To find out more about IVF with PGD, contact us to schedule a consultation at our Las Vegas fertility center.
