The blueprint for successful conception: who needs preconception genetic testing?

Texas Fertility Center enlists genetics laboratories and its partner IVF lab, Ovation Fertility to analyze and apply the results of DNA mapping to fertility treatment plans. An affordable blood or cheek swab DNA test can provide essential information to couples at risk for having a pregnancy or child with genetic illnesses, or patients with specific fertility issues.

Genetic test results, the markers that indicate whether you have rearranged, missing or extra chromosomes, enable your fertility specialist to take preventative measures in an IVF cycle. When we pair IVF with preimplantation genetic diagnosis PGD, your embryologist tests a single cell from an embryo for chromosomal disorders and genetic diseases.

PGD takes place after fertilization and before the embryo transfer in a cycle of IVF.

We can also predict whether extra or missing genetic information in the father’s sperm or mother’s egg will lead to miscarriage. Genetic testing brings added reassurances to the fertility treatment cycle, and peace of mind for couples experiencing recurrent miscarriage, or with a family history of genetic disease such as CF or Thalassemia.

Texas Fertility Center adheres to strict ethical guidelines established by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine for genetic testing applications.

Who needs genetic testing?

Texas Fertility Center incorporates genetic testing where appropriate, but we also see individuals and couples for preconception testing, also known as carrier status screening. Preconception testing, involving a blood sample that ships to a genetics laboratory, helps rule out life altering single gene disorders.

Situations that would warrant genetic testing with Texas Fertility Center include:

• Couples considering getting pregnant who want to know their carrier status for single gene disorders
• Individuals with a known family history for genetic disease
• Couples with a child with a genetic condition or chromosome abnormality
• Couples with a history of failed IVF cycles
• Couples with a history of recurrent miscarriage

Genetic testing can help you achieve a viable pregnancy, and give birth to a healthy child. Contact our Austin, San Antonio or Round Rock fertility clinics to arrange for preconception testing or a fertility workup that precedes PGD.