Genetic testing for embryos? worth it?

[anabelle]

I'm starting an IVF cycle at CCRM and my doctor recommends genetic testing of the embryos to make selection for transfer easier. He says there is possibility of greater risk of abnormal embryos because of high FSH. It seems like the quality of the embryos would determine whether the embryo is genetically normal -but doc says this may not be the case.

Has anyone else decided to have genetic testing done on the embryos? Or gone against their docs recommendation for this?

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

[BC-tnahope]

anabelle, Does your RE have any reason to believe your embryos are genetically abnormal? My RE has never suggested it to us and as far as I know there is only one lady on this board that uses PGD and that is because she knows she needs is. Hopefully she will chime in soon, since she knows more about it that I do.

[anabelle]

Thanks for responding.
I am in the grey zone for Fragile-X but have spoke to 4 doctors about this and a the CCRM genetisist who say my offspring are not at risk and genetic testing in unnecessary. My CCRM doctor said the reason he suggests genetic testing of embryos is because women with high FSH may have higher ratio of abnormal eggs - I know this is a debatable topic, others say it should be based on age not FSH levels.
Maybe my doctor isn't being totally honest about his reasons for suggesting the testing. It seems like others with high FSH have not had to make this decision. Hmm...

[sdeut]

Anabelle - Tna was talking about me. We have to do genetic testing because my Dh and I carry Spinal muscular atrophy. So we do testing for a single gene disorder but on our 1st 2 IVFs we also did chromosomal.

RGI the clinic I go to is one of the only clinics that does SMA testing. They also pioneered some other genetic tests. So when my RE talks about genetic stuff I know he knows what he is talking about. They also work with women with high FSH. This is what he told me egg quality is based on age not FSH level. When we did chromosomal testing I had no more abnormal eggs/embryos than anyone else my age.

Though I will say my RE still pushed chromosomal but only because we were already doing biopsies for SMA. We paid the extra $ to do Chromosomal for IVF #1&2 but not IVF #3. My 3rd IVF were the embryos were biopsied less was the cycle I had the best looking embryos. Though I got pg with each (1st ectopic, 2nd m/c 9 weeks) and right now pg in my 5th week from IVF # 3. You are more than welcome to pm me with any questions.

[anabelle]

Thanks sdeut. That info really helped me. I'll PM you.

[MaritsaM]

Annabelle,

Gvilley posted a link regarding genetic embyo testing. I believe it;s on the thread for women cycling Oct. 18. Go check it out. It sounded great.

[MaritsaM]

Annabelle,

I will also be going to CCRM. What protocol are you on?

[anabelle]

Thanks so much for catching that Maritsa. Dr. S will put me on MDL probably in January. What protocol are you on? Is your doc recommending genetic testing? feel free to PM me.

Here's the link posting originally by gvilley on the cyclers thread if anyone else is interested.
BBC NEWS | Health | Egg screening 'ups IVF success'
It's pretty convincing for around extra 2k? ouch, this all keeps adding up... But I still don't understand why looking at embryo quality doesn't correlate with the genetic state of the embryo. If the article had gone into that more it would have been more convincing and helpful.