Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

hi

my DH and i are considering doing PGD because i have an inherited disease that we do not want to pass along to our children

however

i am concerned that it is still in the experimental stages and i am concerned that it might have an adverse effect on the health of the child

anyone know anyone who had this done or has anyone has this done and has it been successful?

TIA!

Message edited 7/22/2009 6:53:23 PM.

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

I did it for my first IVF cycle and later regretted it. Many people end up with no normal embryos to transfer. I had 9 tested and only one came back normal. I assumed at the time that all of them wouldn't have implanted or resulted in a child abnormalities. However, this is not necessarily true. I have since learned that embryos autocorrect some of the abnormalities found in PGD. So if you put them back, they would result in healthy babies! There is a lot of evidence that suggests that PGD actually reduces pregnancy rates because it results in discarding normal embryos (that appear abnormal with PGD).

So I am not doing PGD for my second IVF. Instead, I am putting the embryos back and will use an amnio to rule out for disorders if I do get pregnant. If I have an abnormality I will have a selective reduction. My doctor and I feel that this is the best option. However, not everyone can go through that emotionally. The amnio would occur at the beginning of the second trimester. It is a very personal decision.

Oh, I would add that I wouldn't worry about it causing birth defects. It isn't that experimental. They are only removing one cell. So I wouldn't use that as a reason not to do it.

Message edited 7/22/2009 7:20:55 PM.

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

Message edited 7/22/2009 8:25:05 PM.

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

i was trying to find studies regarding PGD online - do you know of any? what are they saying about long term effects?

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

thank you for your help!

this is such a tough decision for DH and I - i really appreciate the help and the information!

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

I will be the flip side. DH and I did PGD and I am currently 25 weeks pregnant. We decided on PGD after my second IVF cycle which resulted in a m/c or ectopic they're still not sure. I was completely devestated and didnt want to experience that pain again if there was a way to prevent it. We used Dr. Stelling at RSofNY who is the head of the genetics program there. While there is about a 5-10% chance that PGD can be wrong -- in either direction-- (however I believe there may be a a more accurate PGD process now) a 95% percent chance of not putting back chromosomally abnormal embryos was worth it to us. I have more to say but you can FM for the rest. There was an interesting genetics case that Dr. Stelling was involved with that was reported about in Newsday and I believe you can google the mom's name and find out more. Here's a link for part of the store.

Stacy Trebling Story

Good luck and again, please feel free to FM for more info

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

Check out either the Wall Street Journal or NYTimes. They just had an article about the problems with PGD about two or three weeks ago.

As the previous poster said, PGD is accurate. It does find abnormal embryos. The problem is that many of those embryos that they say are abnormal would actually produce healthy babies because the embryo tosses out the bad cell with the abnormality. So if you do pgd, you may throw out embryos that seem abnormal but would actually be normal!!!

Edited to Say...I don't think it is always bad to do pgd. You just have to decide that there is a real possibility that you might end up with no embryos to transfer even though if you transferred them you would have gotten pregnant and had a healthy baby!

Message edited 7/22/2009 9:23:10 PM.

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

Apparently newsday has changed their website and the link did not work. Here's a new one to the story.

Trebing story

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

I was told by my RE and well as 2 genetic counselors that PGD was not necessary.

But I am freaking out my first ivf twin pregnancy ended up miscarrying both, we were only able to find out that one had down syndrome ( the other one was 10 weeks so by body asborsed it and could not be tested)

I went to genetic counselors , they as well as my RE and OB told me the chances of this happening again were very slim and there is no reason why I should not use my frozen embryos ( from the same retrieval)

well I did I am now pregnant with one
BUT I have to do an amnio next week.

My NT scan showed a thickness of 5 ( that bad, but last pregnany is was 8.1 and my poor baby also had a cystic hygroma)

We just received the blood work and my chances for a trismomy 18 and 21 are elevated 10%

I am just sooooooo upset, emotionally I can not handle another 2nd trimester loss..
(last time I had no choice in what to do, my body decided for me this time I may have to make that decision)

And I am not sure I can go on with trying IVF again, for me it works, but ovioulsly something is wrong with my eggs or his sperm
( I was offered but never sent out his sperm for a sperm fragmentation)

so basically what I am saying is maybe I should have done PGD and then I would not have to worry about chromosomal abnormal embryos.

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

I did PGD with my first two IVF cycles - which were BFN. Didn't do it with my third and have a beautiful healthy baby boy sleeping in the next room.

I agree with a PP - I thought doing PGD would yield us a healthy pregnancy/healthy baby but after I failed twice doing it I realized that the embryos are probably getting slightly damaged from doing the procedure.

Good luck to you!

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

i really want to thank everyone for all of their help/information. i really appreciate it!

i have my first doc's appt on Monday - DH and i have a lot to think about! i'll keep you all updated!

thanks again, your posts have really helped

Re: Has anyone done PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) and had it be successful?

I have an X-linked disorder and chose to do PGD after m/c at 20 weeks with my first pregnancy which was conceived naturally. DH and I decided that PGD was the best way to go because we both could not go through the pain and agony of waiting for the amnio results again, and finding out that something was wrong, and then naturally losing the baby....it was just too devastating. It took a huge toll on my, but in the end brought DH and I much closer.

We used Dr. Stelling at RS of NY and absolutely loved him, and Genesis Genetics. We were told that the diagnosis of embryos with my disorder was 95-98%!!! The first time it didn't work, we had one embie to transfer which seemed to have arrested after biopsy. The second time we had 3 to transfer, transferred 2, and I am now almost 37 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby girl!

If you have any questions or want to know more about what I went through, FM me, I will be happy to answer them.