Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis Helps Us Deliver Healthy Babies
One of the most painful experiences a parent can endure is delivering a child that suffers from a debilitating and devastating genetic disorder. The Center for Reproductive Medicine is dedicated to working with families to conceive healthy embryos with the help of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).
The center was the first site in the Southeast to offer PGD, and is one of only a few certified genetic laboratories in the nation to offer PGD with IVF and analysis on-site, for both single gene and chromosome defects. PGD screens for more than 40 chromosomal abnormalities and diseases. Prior to uterine transfer, a single cell is extracted from a three-day-old embryo for detection of single gene defects and aneuploidy.
PGD is for patients who are at serious risk of delivering babies with specific genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, or sickle cell anemia, or for women who may have aneuploidy, or the wrong number of chromosomes in their embryos. A baby with the wrong number of chromosomes typically is lost through miscarriage. PGD has enabled many patients referred to the center to deliver healthy babies.