Does Braverman do pgd AND does Empire (goverment plan) cover pgd?

I have been doing a ton of reading and am thinking that maybe we have a balnaced translocator issue. I called Empire the other day but they didn't mention anything about pgd coverage. I thought maybe one of the ladies on this board would know the answer. TIA

Re: Does Braverman do pgd AND does Empire (goverment plan) cover pgd?

I have a balanced translocation. Did Dr. B send you and DH for karyotyping? That is how he will determine if there is a genetic issue. What makes you think that this is your issue?

When we initially discussed my translocation, Dr. B told me that our two options were to keep trying on our own, and eventually, we would have a successful pregnancy, or we could do IVF. He explained that he would not do PGD, which most other doctors seem to do. When I questioned him about this, he explained that when doing PGD, you end up getting up of potentially good embryos. He said that he would transfer up to 5 embryos, hoping that there were at least a couple who were genetically normal, or with the balanced translocation. It's when the egg has an unbalanced translocation that you have a problem. If more than three embryos took, he would have us do selective reduction, and would be able to do some kind of testing in utero to see which embryos were genetically viable.

He had my whole family get karyotyped, and it turned out that my sister also had the same exact translocation. My mom didn't, so by default, we knew my dad did (his bloodwork got messed up by Quest). At that point, Dr. B. decided that the translocation was not my main issue, as my sister had no trouble conceiving her two boys. Apparently, when the translocation is hereditary, it's not as big of an issue as if it was a spontaneous mutation.


Sorry, that was a really long response. I don't know specifically about Empire, but I don't think a lot of insurance covers PGD. I don't have IVF coverage at all, but hopefully I won't need it.

Best of luck to you!

Re: Does Braverman do pgd AND does Empire (goverment plan) cover pgd?

I will not comment with regard to Dr. B and PGD/S but I can tell you that Empire will not cover it (we have done it twice and both times have been out of pocket). Sorry I dont have better news

Re: Does Braverman do pgd AND does Empire (goverment plan) cover pgd?

Thanks girls. I sent you fms.

Re: Does Braverman do pgd AND does Empire (goverment plan) cover pgd?

I did PGD with Empire with LIIVF. I did get reimbursed maybe $2K from the insurance company. I did not get pregnant.

I then switched to Braverman. I did not do PGD this time for the reasons Jax explained. (My DH had a balanced translocation.) I got pregnant the first IVF with Braverman.

The more I read about PGD, the more I learned that it is not really great for a lot of things. It seems better to increase the number of embryos you transfer. I did four.