COMPREHENSIVE GENETIC SCREENING

Before any infertility treatment, Dr. Kolb considers individual risk factors for specific heritable diseases, including the medical history, age and ethnicity of potential parents. Based on this profile, tests for Sickle Cell, Cystic Fibrosis and Tay Sachs, along with many others, can be performed.

 

When both parents are carriers of an abnormal gene responsible for a particular disease, there is a one-in-four chance of producing an affected embryo. For this reason, additional testing may be performed during the embryonic stage.

 

PGS / PGD

 

While comprehensive genetic screening is initially performed on intended parents, or carriers, preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) / diagnosis (PGD) detects abnormalities within the developing embryos before they are transferred to the uterus.

 

Such genetic disorders include single-gene diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, Type-A hemophilia and Tay-Sachs, among others. More commonly, recent advances help identify embryos that contain abnormal numbers of chromosomes and thus allow for only the healthiest embryos to be transferred. By utilizing this procedure, Dr. Kolb is able to increase pregnancy rates while minimizing the risk for Down’s syndrome and the possibility of a miscarriage.