Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Those Genes Look Great On You!

One of the fancy services that CC.RM offers is PGS, otherwise known as Preimplantation Genetic Screening. This type of screening counts chromosomes and tests for certain genetic conditions, thereby confirming whether or not your embryos are chromosomally normal.

So, under this umbrella term of PGS, there are more specific types of testing, like FISH, CCS, and microarray. FISH typically screens for 9 chromosomes and is done on Day 1 after the retrieval (some clinics do this test on Day 3). A small sample of the embryo is taken, tested, and then if the results are normal, the embryos are transferred during that cycle.

CCS, the other testing that CC.RM does, is much more comprehensive. The testing is done on all 23 chromosomes, with the sample taken from the embryo on Day 5 after the retrieval (the embryos must make it to blastocysts for the test to occur). The embryos are then frozen and you wait anywhere from 2-4 weeks for the test results. The transfer is done as a frozen embryo transfer typically about 8 weeks after the retrieval.

Genetic testing is usually recommended for those couples who are either older than 37, have had multiple failed IVFs or who have had multiple miscarriages. Although Dr. S did not recommend this for us, Doc and I are almost positive that we'll go through with it. Our reasons are:

1) We'll be able to determine if this is an egg quality issue. If we get no normal embryos, this will probably be our last IVF cycle.
2) Success with CCS testing is above 70% (considering the group that typically uses CCS testing, this is awesome).
3) Many times your best looking embryos are not your chromosomally normal embryos, so if we have more than two embryos that survive, we want to know which ones will win the Darwinian race.

Alright, so enough of the science lesson for today.

I'm anxious to get this show on the road! Hopefully, with our South American vacay and the holidays coming up, the days will fly by until January.

5 comments:

Do I Have to Be a D.I.N.K.? said...

Very interesting. I am also considering testing our embryos.

sienna said...

i was talking about testing with babybaker a while back, and while i love the concept, i'm confused by it (only bc of my ignorance). obviously you can take a cell from me, and i wouldn't flinch bc i'm a grown adult. but when a baby only has a few cells, isn't taking 1 cell a huge deal? this is what baffles me, yet i know it's only bc of my own stupidity, bc CLEARLY it works and is completely harmless.

sounds like you're pulling out all the stops for this next cycle. sounds like a good plan, and i'm *sure* the next few months are going to go by super quickly bc of your vacay and all the holidays coming up. can't wait for you to get started!!!!

Anonymous said...

I have heard a lot about genetic testing recently. I hope it works out for you!

foxy said...

The waiting is the hardest. It sounds like you have some fun events planned between now and January to keep your mind busy.

Take care and good luck!

jill's infertility document said...

Good Luck to you as you rev up for IVF #3. You wrote that this will probably be your last IVF cycle and all my thoughts and wishes are with you as make that decision going in.