GENETIC TESTING- A Boon for Couples Attempting IVF in Advanced Age

Dr. Richa Singh

Patients attempting IVF treatment with the hope of getting positive results often have to face the challenges of failure in spite of a good embryo. The rate of chromosomal abnormalities/aneuploidies starts increasing from 35 years onwards, and it ranges from 54% between 35-37 years, 67% between 38-40 years, and 66% between the age of 41-42 years. So timely intervention through genetic testing can help couples to brace for the joy of parenthood.

Urvara Fertility Centre, one of Lucknow's leading IVF centres throws light on how genetic testing in IVF can improve the chances of success in couples opting for the treatment. The centre is led by a renowned infertility practitioner for more than a decade with vast national and international experience- Dr Richa Singh, who is also the founder and director of the organization. She wishes to raise awareness of preimplantation genetic testing in IVF. She states that "I'm seeing a lot of patients in our OPDs where they are facing multiple abortion/miscarriages, repeated IVF failures in spite of good grade of embryos being transferred but they are unaware that every good looking embryo is not healthy internally. With the help of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), they can choose their embryos and take the transfer of healthy ones and increase their chances of success.

Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) can ensure that the embryo selected for transfer has a correct number of chromosomes, thus reducing the chances of failed IVF cycles and miscarriages.

Who are good candidates for PGT?

1. Women over 37 years
2. Couples who are at risk of having a child affected by an inherited disease
3. Couple has a history of recurrent miscarriages

How PGT is done?

IVF/ICSI is a requirement to obtain embryos for genetic testing, and after the eggs are retrieved and fertilized in a lab, the embryologist will perform a biopsy on the embryos to obtain a few cells for testing. It is usually done on day 5 or the blastocyst stage. The result takes 10-15 days to arrive.

Dr. Richa's expertise in assisted reproductive technology and vast experience has made it possible for many infertile couples to realise their dreams of becoming parents, and her core expertise lies in giving pregnancies with self-eggs and sperms be it low ovarian reserve, endometriosis, low and nil sperm count and treating cases with the history of recurrent IVF failures.

Genetic testing is usually of two types:-

PGT-A (Also known as PGS)

PGT-M (Also known as PGD)

PGT-A is usually recommended whenever there are previous IVF failures or recurrent miscarriages or the age of the woman is above 37 yrs. and it helps the patients to increase their chances of success by taking the transfer of genetically competent embryos.

PGT-M is usually done to determine genetic disease in the embryo, which is running in the family, and the couple does not want to pass it down to their children. PGT-M can erase the problem of the family's future generation. It can be done in various diseases such as sickle cell anaemia, thalassemia and many more. PGT is potent enough to trace up to 2,000 genetic disorders and is known to present 98% accuracy.

About URVARA FERTILITY CENTRE

Urvara Fertility Centre is offering PGT for their couples to increase their chances of success under the guidance of Dr. Richa Singh and her highly experienced clinical and embryology team, who have considerable experience with the latest assisted reproductive techniques. They are incredibly caring and empathetic towards their patients doing the IVF in the most transparent and ethical way considering their emotional, physical and psychological challenges.

HOW GENETIC TESTING IS HELPING THE COUPLES

Dr. Richa says that a lot of patients, due to advanced age and high chances of chromosomal abnormalities, had to opt for donor eggs previously, but after the advent of PGT technology, those couples who have eggs in their ovaries can take benefit of this test and attempt pregnancies with their own eggs and take transfer of only genetically healthy embryos. A lot of couples have benefitted to date, and many more are enrolling in this process as the awareness related to this is increasing day by day. Not only this, but the patients who were not able to have a healthy baby even through spontaneous conception are opting for IVF with PGT to diagnose their healthy embryos and are able to conceive successfully and take home their healthy baby. Apart from such indications, this PGT can be combined with IVF if couples want to increase their chances of success through this process. However, in spite of all the latest technologies, the success rates of IVF remains limited and not 100% and patient still have to face implantation failure due to other reasons. We are on a constant mission to bring the latest and advanced technologies to our patients and bring smiles to their faces and completing families.