Why is PGS and PGD important to us?
The primary reason for the failure of IVF is that we transmit genetically abnormal embryos. At 38, the euploidy rate is about 20-30%, meaning that out of 10 embryos, 3-4 should be genetically normal. Unfortunately, PGS is not performed under all IVF programs in each country and in these situations the embryos are transferred to the patient consecutively in the hope that one of them will be euploid and that the cumulative pregnancy rate per cycle will be 30-40%.
What is the difference between PGD and PGS?
In PGD, D stands for diagnosis, and in PGS, S stands for screening.
There are two types of genetic abnormalities in genetics: the first is the number of chromosomes detected by PGS analysis – if there are numerical mutations in which the embryos we transmit have a poor number of chromosomes. In younger women, we want to check for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, Trisomy 13 Chromosomes – these are more common genetic, numerical mutations that occur due to patient age.
PGS is best performed on fresh, non-frozen blastocysts. The good news for you is that when doing PGS, the embryo freezes after completion of the analysis so that there is actually no pressure that you need to be in sync with the preparation of the uterus and that the fresh embryo needs to be transferred to you.
In the PGS cycle, your uterus can be stimulated by a program called the long cycle. Usually, when the uterus prepares to receive the embryo, it is done in the next cycle, which means that patients take estrogen orally for 14-15 days and then add five and a half days of progesterone, depending on your implant window. When a thin endometrial problem occurs, the estrogen phase is extended from 14 to 30 days.
On the other hand, there are people who come to us and say, “Listen, we’re both carriers of this disease. We have a kid at home who is sick. We want to make sure the other child is healthy.” So, PGD is done when we have both parents who are carriers of a recessive disease or one parent who is dominant in the disease to make sure the embryo does not carry the same point of mutation because there are certain diseases who have a problem with the exact mutations in your genes and a child can develop certain diseases.
So, routinely, if parents are healthy, PGS or blastocyst screening is done to see only the number of chromosomes. The egg cells of a donor between the ages of 18-28 should have 80% euploidy, but you always believe only what you can check.
There are IVF clinics in the world that register only 40% of donor oocyte euploidy but there are also 80% IVF centers. So, when you see that you cannot have a pregnancy with one or two donors in one IVF clinic, go to a center that specializes in programs with donor oocytes. An IVF clinic that works more, has more experience, will have a better experience.
Our IVF programs with own eggs and with donor eggs that also include PGS embryo screening can be found on our PROGRAMS page.
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