Has anyone heard of/had the "Harmony Test"?

martinimomma · February 2013

NOT looking to start a debate on prenatal testing, but this is apparently a new maternal test that can be done for trisomies 13, 18 and 21 using the mother's blood (i.e., no amnio). It apparently came into use in the last 16 months (not available when I was pregnant with DS).

It is not covered by insurance and I am not sure it really tells you more than the good old anatomy scan/bloodwork combo might otherwise do. Since I am an old biddy, I am trying to sort out what makes sense to do and not, and this is a new one on the available testing list.

JuddandJessica · February 2013

I had tons of tests offered and I've never heard of that one. My son was born last month. That's interesting though. I'm sure it will be really popular.

Missa_g · February 2013

Is it like Maternit21? I've had several friends get it done who have been very happy that they did.

VeilSdeGTO · February 2013

It is the same as the Maternit21, but for some reason there are various names for it.

It is a blood test for the mom and more accurate than the quad screen test which gives you odds of having a genetic disorder. It can also be done earlier (at the same time as the NT test). However, it only tests for the three genetic disorders you named.

One thing that has been brought up is that many women are choosing it not because they are at risk but because you can also find out gender much earlier, without it being as invasive as a CVS or amnio.

mork · February 2013

It was offered to us, but since none of our losses were known to be those issues, we didn't do it. Sorry, not much help other than I've heard of it.

martinimomma · February 2013

VeilSdeGTO:
It is the same as the Maternit21, but for some reason there are various names for it.
It is a blood test for the mom and more accurate than the quad screen test which gives you odds of having a genetic disorder. It can also be done earlier (at the same time as the NT test). However, it only tests for the three genetic disorders you named.
One thing that has been brought up is that many women are choosing it not because they are at risk but because you can also find out gender much earlier, without it being as invasive as a CVS or amnio.

Thanks, VSGTO. My OB actually said they would not tell gender from the test to "avoid accusations of sex selection terminations" -- so that appears to go out the window for this version of the test.

Sonadora · February 2013

I've heard of it and if we ever decided to have another child, I would get it. It would give me more certainty than the quad screen/NT test which gave me a very elevated risk of DS with B's pg. Even though the anatomy scan did not reveal any evidence of trisomies, I was very worried the whole pg and would have paid for the new test in a heartbeat had it been available at the time.

Ladiebug710 · February 2013

Harmony and Maternity21 both use free fetal DNA in the maternal circulation to test for fetal trisomy 13, 18 and 21. Harmony also does the sex chromosomes. Harmony is marketed as a screening test with results to be confirmed by amnio - really are people going to confirm a negative? I doubt it. Maternity21 is marketed as a diagnostic test, but ACOG still recommends confirmation of an abnormal with invasive testing.

luvmyducks · February 2013

Yep, it is something like 98% accurate, so much more accurate than the quad screen and can be done as early as 10w. Since it is so new, it is still considered in the testing phase and that is why insurance companies won't cover it. But the company wants the tests done, so they cover like all but $265 or something similar. If there was something off in our NT Scan, then yes, I would of had it done. I'm not positive about the Harmony test, but the MaterniT21 test can also tell you the sex of the baby along with the genetic testings.

adoxyinherear · February 2013

We didn't opt for any of the tests that weren't covered by our insurance, and I think this was one of them. It seemed like there were so many!

Junebug060609 · February 2013

Sonadora:
I've heard of it and if we ever decided to have another child, I would get it. It would give me more certainty than the quad screen/NT test which gave me a very elevated risk of DS with B's pg.nbsp; Even though the anatomy scan did not reveal any evidence of trisomies, I was very worried the whole pg and would have paid for the new test in a heartbeat had it been available at the time.

Same here. D has an elevated DS risk and I'd have paid OOP for this test. We ended up doing an amnio, but I'd much rather have gotten a definitive answer noninvasively.

damabo80 · February 2013

I'm a testing hor.
My insurance covers it, so if we go for kid number three you bet your sweet_ass I'm going to get that and the NT.
our first son was genetically perfect, but he still had a fatal issue that the NT would pick up, but not the harmony test. So, reason enough for me to get both tests. I have enough blood. I'm not going to miss an extra vial or two.

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