PGD/ CGH testing

mvp12

Is there any reason to do either of these DH and I don't have any known genetic conditions or history in our family?

I just want to give us the best chance with our first IVF.I know even with 100% healthy embryos the IVF could still fail.  I would never do these test to choose gender, just to screen for genetic disorders.

I'm trying to gather as much information as possible during our break cycle (aka forced break b/c of job loss).

I "fired" my RE and I am going to be scheduling consultation with CCRM and the Cleveland Clinic (which is near me).  We have the money saved for IVF, but DH won't do it while I'm laid off.

sescms2004

The only reason to do either, other than trying to avoid a known genetic condition you or DH might have, would be to help better select a normal embryo.  PGD is not 100%, as it does not screen all chromosomes.  CGH is 100%, but it still does not guarantee that a normal embryo would implant.  I have had 4 losses, and I still will not do either.  I have a low AFC (9) and will likely not make many embryos, so it would not help us.  If you make a lot of embryos, CGH could help you select which ones to transfer. Also, CGH adds about $5k to IVF.

 If you're concerned about a genetic condition, you and DH could get chromosome testing done, just to rule things out.

miesl

From what I know about PGD - you'd have to know what genetic disorders you were trying to avoid, and that you/DH carried the mutations.  Maybe you would be best off getting a carrier screening for yourself - that way you'd know if you have anything to worry about.

It's not like saying - I don't want a child with CF.  They needed DNA from us, and the genetics paperwork detailing which mutations we had so they can build a specific test to US to determine which are CF vs. non CF embryos.

yodasmistress

We are doing CGH/MA at CCRM to maximize our potential for success while minimizing our potential for multiples.  (65% success per normal embryo, regardless of age.)

ETA ---> With CGH/MA all chromosomes are screened and you do not have to be looking for a specific disorder.  CCRM is seeing 97% accuracy for their CGH/MA screenings.   SIRM does 3 day biopsies but CCRM is only doing day 5/6 blasts so that they can be sure they are sampling from the trophoblast cells.  I have known women who wanted to do CGH/MA but then didn't have any embies make it to blast.  Please take into consideration how you would react if that happened to you when making your decision.

Ali212

We don't have any genetic conditions or history in our families and I have zero interest in choosing gender (I don't plan to find out gender before birth if I do get pregnant), but we've opted for PGS with all of our IVFs to-date.  The reason is simply that it's really common for there to be a chromosome abnormality (e.g. Down's syndrome or others) which has little to do with genetic history/conditions. And many of these chromosomal abnormalities will not be viable pregnancies (e.g., live birth, make it to term) - even if they do take initially. 

Also, I don't get a lot of eggs so it's VERY helpful for us to help make sure we're putting the 'best' back in.  My rates have been ~40% 'abnormal' embryos after PGS so it's been helpful to insure we're stacking the deck a bit for us in our favor.

Given how much we're investing (emotionally and financially since we're out of OOP), if IVF does work for us, I'd like to have a little extra insurance to rule out some things going wrong. It doesn't rule everything out and it's absolutely no guarantee, but it minimizes risk of some things.  But it is expensive, I pay $7,600 out of pocket for PGS.

mvp12

yodasmistress:

We are doing CGH/MA at CCRM to maximize our potential for success while minimizing our potential for multiples.  (65% success per normal embryo, regardless of age.)

ETA ---> With CGH/MA all chromosomes are screened and you do not have to be looking for a specific disorder.  CCRM is seeing 97% accuracy for their CGH/MA screenings.   SIRM does 3 day biopsies but CCRM is only doing day 5/6 blasts so that they can be sure they are sampling from the trophoblast cells.  I have known women who wanted to do CGH/MA but then didn't have any embies make it to blast.  Please take into consideration how you would react if that happened to you when making your decision.

Thank you. That seems like a high success rate when doing CGH/MA. The more information I gather, the more it makes me want to cycle with CCRM. I would be afraid about not having any embryos. I wonder if they are only able to test half the embryos, and then freeze the rest just in case.

yodasmistress

mvp12:

Thank you. That seems like a high success rate when doing CGH/MA. The more information I gather, the more it makes me want to cycle with CCRM. I would be afraid about not having any embryos. I wonder if they are only able to test half the embryos, and then freeze the rest just in case.

I know the stats are impressive.  Also, if you're open to twins, the success rate goes up over 85% when transferring two. 

To my knowledge they won't let you freeze some and test some - you have to commit to doing CHG/MA on all embryos by ER.  (MA stands for "microarray" and is basically a different version of the same technology as CGH.)  If on day 1 you have less than 6 embies growing they will recommend you convert to Polar Body Biopsy (PBB).  In that scenario they just test the two polar bodies the egg/embryo kick out so really you only get to know if the EGG is genetically normal or not.  So not super useful info if you ask me - especially for couples like my husband and I that are also dealing with MFI. 

I'm pretty sure the reason CCRM makes you commit to either doing the testing or not is that this is currently a "study" that they indend to publish - so they want to be able to run a full set of stats for each woman's cycle. 

Your age and diagnosis is a helpful in guessing if you'll make blasts or not. And I can say that if you'll make them anywhere it will be at CCRM.  There are a number of ladies who have never had blasts locally and then went to CCRM and had a half a dozen.  FLC is just that good.  (I think it's their proprietary embryo soup.)

There is some really, really helpful info about CCRM and CHG/MA on the Colorado board on IVFC - highly recommend you check that out.  There are a few girls from this board who also post over there (other than myself).

mvp12

yodasmistress:

mvp12:

Thank you. That seems like a high success rate when doing CGH/MA. The more information I gather, the more it makes me want to cycle with CCRM. I would be afraid about not having any embryos. I wonder if they are only able to test half the embryos, and then freeze the rest just in case.

I know the stats are impressive.  Also, if you're open to twins, the success rate goes up over 85% when transferring two. 

To my knowledge they won't let you freeze some and test some - you have to commit to doing CHG/MA on all embryos by ER.  (MA stands for "microarray" and is basically a different version of the same technology as CGH.)  If on day 1 you have less than 6 embies growing they will recommend you convert to Polar Body Biopsy (PBB).  In that scenario they just test the two polar bodies the egg/embryo kick out so really you only get to know if the EGG is genetically normal or not.  So not super useful info if you ask me - especially for couples like my husband and I that are also dealing with MFI. 

I'm pretty sure the reason CCRM makes you commit to either doing the testing or not is that this is currently a "study" that they indend to publish - so they want to be able to run a full set of stats for each woman's cycle. 

Your age and diagnosis is a helpful in guessing if you'll make blasts or not. And I can say that if you'll make them anywhere it will be at CCRM.  There are a number of ladies who have never had blasts locally and then went to CCRM and had a half a dozen.  FLC is just that good.  (I think it's their proprietary embryo soup.)

There is some really, really helpful info about CCRM and CHG/MA on the Colorado board on IVFC - highly recommend you check that out.  There are a few girls from this board who also post over there (other than myself).

Thank you so much for all of the information! You have been very helpful. I'm going to check out the Colorado board on IVFC.