Infertility is a universal problem that many couples typically face in their mid-thirties.
Infertility is not always age-related; sometimes it has to do with the reproductive system, or other non-age related factors.
Many couples, who straggled in their attempt to conceive, turn to IVF, hoping to find the ultimate solution to their issue.
However, very few are aware of the crucial role of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) in the IVF process.
PGD is not just an added value in IVF package, it is essential for conceiving a healthy pregnancy.
The most common problem leading to infertility is the genetic abnormality of the embryos, which is sometime impossible to assess just by looking at embryos under microscope, or measuring the time of cell replication.
In fact, genetically abnormal embryos often look great and grow at normal speed within the first days of IVF process.
PGD is a laboratory technique that assesses the number of chromosomes in the embryos to be implanted in the womb.
An abnormal embryo typically has an incorrect number of chromosomes, for example trisomy 21, an abnormality that leads to Down syndrome.
Most abnormal embryos fail to implant in the womb.
While this natural selection protects our kids from getting major genetic disorder, it does not work at 100%.
Sometime, abnormal embryo survives during the implantation, but not long enough, causing miscarriage.
In the best scenario, abnormal embryos fully develop during pregnancy, but leads to new born with genetic disorder.
The damage caused by abnormal embryos is beyond imagination: stress, trauma, depression, health risks, and financial distress.
Most of these issues can be solved by simply by taking a Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis test.
How many types of PGD are and which one is best? There are at least 2 major categories in PGD, depends on the technology being used.
These technologies include FISH (fluorescence in-situ hybridization), and microarray.
Both have limitations, for example FISH has a very low coverage, it inspects only a tiny proportion of your chromosomes, but it is cheaper.
Microarray has better coverage, and it is 3X more expensive than FISH.
Microarray major limitation is the accuracy of call for gender selection.
The technique does not always predict the correct gender, and has a significant error rate in autosomes as well.
Next Generation sequencing is a new technology that has 100% accuracy call, and has been extensively tested in diseases diagnosis.
Now NGS is being applied to preimplantation genetic diagnosis, bringing a new hope for couples who have been skeptical about PGD.