Harmony Prenatal Test

jamieandlori

I will be 35 when I have this baby, so my OB offered me the option of a few prenatal tests that (I guess) are often offered to women of advanced maternal age. The newest of these test, Harmony Prenatal Test, was the one I was most interested in. It's a blood test done between 10-16 weeks and is supposed to be more accurate than the NT test (they test for the same things.) You also have the option of finding out the sex! Has anyone else heard of this or choosing to have this done?

Lauren659

A friend of mine did it after having a son with a rare genetic disorder. They found at 10 weeks that it is a girl, which is incredible for them since the disease only occurs in boys.

jamieandlori

MadApple said:

It was offered to us this time, but since I'm not 35 yet, I would have to pay out of pocket (est. $800-$2000 - don't know why they don't have a better idea of the actual cost). I think we are going to pass on it, even though it sounds awesome. If it was covered by our insurance, I would do it for sure. It's only a blood test, so it isn't invasive, and you get a lot of good information.

That's quite an OOP range. I was told my insurance would cover it, or I'd honestly just opt for the NT scan again. It's exciting to find ouf the sex so soon, but I will also miss seing LO at 12 weeks on an US.

htn1763

My SIL did the Maternit21 test. She found out the sex at 12 weeks. I believe insurance only covers it if you are over 35 or have risk factors. I think it sounds great as you will find out a lot of info earlier and it's noninvasive.

jamieandlori

MadApple said:

jamieandlori said:

MadApple said:

It was offered to us this time, but since I'm not 35 yet, I would have to pay out of pocket (est. $800-$2000 - don't know why they don't have a better idea of the actual cost). I think we are going to pass on it, even though it sounds awesome. If it was covered by our insurance, I would do it for sure. It's only a blood test, so it isn't invasive, and you get a lot of good information.

That's quite an OOP range. I was told my insurance would cover it, or I'd honestly just opt for the NT scan again. It's exciting to find ouf the sex so soon, but I will also miss seing LO at 12 weeks on an US.

They said if I was 35+, it would be covered by my insurance.

Does the panorama/Harmony test cover everything that is checked in the NT scan?


It is my understanding, that it does. It's supposed to be more accurate, though. There is also optional sex chromosome testing that can be done, which, I guess, would pick up certain conditions that affect specifically girls or boys. I'm assuming that is what Lauren659 was talking about.

afeaugas

Im doing this on my next visit Aug. 28th... they told me my insurance covers it and I'm under 35. I will double check any way before they stick that needle in...

avz123a

Harmony, MaterniT21 and Panorama all do direct genetic testing of the baby's DNA that is found circulating in your blood to assess risk for Down's syndrome and other conditions. In theory it should be more accurate than NT since it is testing the DNA directly. It is also much less invasive than amnio or CVS which you would get if your NT test is positive. I will probably try to get one of these tests regardless of whether insurance pays. Finding out the sex is a great bonus too.
Hope that helps.

VineyardMel

Doing it in a couple of weeks. The MFM office that does it also does the U/S part of the NTScan at the same time, so we'll also have the chance for any neural tube defects to be identified. We're Team Green which will be tough knowing we could know so soon!

Gamera3000

I'm having it done aug 30th. I'm 36 so my insurance covers it. I hadn't heard of it before. I'm excited to find out the gender early!