My clinic wont do PGD testing for gender selection

Hi Guys,

DH and I have been trying to get prego for years. We finally scraped up the $$ to do IVF w/ PGD. We agreed to only transfer girls and besides just preferring a girl, the secondary reason is our overwhelming concerns about the higher prevalence in autism w/ boys. 1. I was raised in CA (where the autism rate is highest) 2. Im 35 (autism is more prevalent in older mothers) and 3. I have a blood clotting issue (which studies say there may be a link to autism) We did IVF w/ PGD on all 8 embryos. 1 was bad, 6 were boys and only 1 girl. Pure devastation! We transferred the only girl and it ended in a chemical pregnancy.

I was down and out and then a miracle happened! We had been on the military IVF waitlist and and we were told we are able to start the process w/ them soon - way earlier then anticipated. Small miracle! When I called them to ask about PGD testing I was told they will only do it if there is a medical reason and not for gender selection. Also they said it would cost an additional $7K out of pocket, which is double the amount I paid at our other clinic!

We decided not to proceed w/ a FET at the 1st clinic b/c the embryos were boys, so I don't want to go thru another IVF round and potentially get BFP w/ a boy, b/c they wont allow the PGD testing.

Would having the thrombophilia issue qualify me - although don't think that's gender specific? What about if I have a family member w/ downs? Im not sure the autism concern would qualify since its not medically proven why it happens.

Also, does anyone know if some guys just produce more of one gender, or was our 1st round just bad odds?

Thanks for your feedback/suggestions!

I think it had to be a sex-linked medical condition, so downs is out.

But isn't PGD testing also used to see if the embryos are genetically healthy in addition to being able to determine the gender?

When I called around to price the PGD testing the lady said it ranges in price depending on if it was for gender testing or something specific.

Now Im confused if it determines the health and the gender as one.

Is has to be an X-linked issue. Downs and autism are not.

Sorry. If you only paid $3500 for a cycle, I'd go back there!

PGD is a general term used to refer to testing on an embryo. There are different types. They can all identify and gender. You have no medical history to need it in order to have a child unaffected by something. There is no test for autism.

They can do PGD but not FOR gender I'm sure because they are ethically against it. Many clinics are. Has nothing to do with the test. They just don't want to be involved with GS.

If you have thrombophilia you need to be treated properly during IVF to make sure your embryo sticks and stays. It can cause recurrent miscarriage. Were you on anything for it during your cycle?

OK, thanks for clarifying.

So worst case scenario is I do the IVF for the embryos, don't go thu w/ the transfer and then I pay to send the FET over to the other clinic, get them PGD tested and pay for an FET there. Ugh - what I will do for pink! ;)

In your experience are some men more prone to produce one gender over the other?

Regarding your comment above - I only paid $3500 for the PGD last time, that was in addition to the IVF & meds.

Thanks for helping me out!

Whoops, missed this response originally. No, on the first IVF he didn't test for thrombophilia. It wasn't until I had the chemical that he thought we should get it checked out. Turns out my sis has it too so must be genetic.

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Originally Posted by jilliciousca

OK, thanks for clarifying.

So worst case scenario is I do the IVF for the embryos, don't go thu w/ the transfer and then I pay to send the FET over to the other clinic, get them PGD tested and pay for an FET there. Ugh - what I will do for pink! ;)

In your experience are some men more prone to produce one gender over the other?

Regarding your comment above - I only paid $3500 for the PGD last time, that was in addition to the IVF & meds.

Thanks for helping me out!

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The blood clotting issue could have definitely caused the chemical. That needs to be properly treated next time. If you shipped the embryos, only certain clinics will be able to do testing on day 5 embryos- I am not sure if your clinic does day 3 transfer for IVF patients or day 5 transfers. If you went through the IVF part and told them you wanted to freeze all, you could see if they let you transfer the embryos to another clinic eventually and pay for PGD and a FET then. It may cost you 7-8K for the PGD and FET and Meds though.

Not all clinics can biopsy an embryo on day 5. Some definitely can but you would also risk having to refreeze some if you had 8 get biopsied, the most you would transfer would be 2. If you had 4 XX, you would end up refreezing the other 2 XX which isn't ideal.

Wow, all good information to think about! I guess Ill have to wrestle with the options.
I know when we spoke initially after my chemical I posted that we were going to proceed w/ an FET but my heart just never felt good about the decision and we decided to wait before making a final decision. I actually kept thinking about your quote - It's better to look back on life and say: "I can't believe I did that" than to look back and say "I wish I did that".
I guess we will see what tomorrow brings - Ill keep you posted as we move along. Thanks Again! :)

All men make equal amounts of X and Y sperm. It's not possible to make more of one or the other, since the process is driven by meiosis.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jilliciousca

But isn't PGD testing also used to see if the embryos are genetically healthy in addition to being able to determine the gender?

When I called around to price the PGD testing the lady said it ranges in price depending on if it was for gender testing or something specific.

Now Im confused if it determines the health and the gender as one.

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They can only tell on things that are gender specific AND represented in the chromosomes. Autism, no one really knows if/how that is represented in the genome and you can't test for that (and BTW it's not gender specific either, girls can have autism and it is not a guarantee to have a girl.) Down's is not gender specific, both boys and girls can have it.

jilli, I did just want to mention that to the best of our knowledge men DO make 50-50 X and Y sperm. It is possible but not proven or understood that perhaps in some couples, those go onto produce different gender ratios of offspring but we just do not know how this occurs. I have seen some gals with terrible gender splits in one cycle go onto have the exact opposite results in different cycles and end up with great splits. Good luck!