Family balancing through IVF with PGT-A helps patients build healthy families

Our Texas fertility doctors offer family balancing through IVF with PGT-A, or preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy. Using a combination of IVF and PGT-A, our fertility specialists can determine the chromosomal health and sex of each embryo resulting from IVF, enabling parents to choose the sex of their baby.

This treatment removes an element of the unknown from the path to parenthood and increases the chance of patients taking home a healthy baby.

Certain factors make patients good candidates for family balancing

There are several circumstances in which our Texas fertility doctors may recommend moving forward with IVF with PGT-A. These circumstances relate to the genetic health of the patient’s future children, in addition to their desire to have a male or female child.

Inheritable genetic conditions. When a patient providing the eggs or sperm for an IVF cycle is a carrier of a sex-linked disease, the doctor will likely recommend utilizing PGT-A. This test minimizes the risk of the child resulting from the IVF cycle inheriting one of the more than 500+ gender-linked genetic diseases.

Concerns about chromosomal defects. For many people, knowing that the embryo they transfer is chromosomally normal provides immense peace of mind. In some cases, the risk of a chromosomal disorder in their children may be higher. For example, maternal age can play a role in the risk of having children with Down syndrome, which is one of several chromosome disorders that can be detected in embryos using PGT-A.

Balancing the family. Patients who are not carriers of a sex-linked disease or concerned about chromosome disorders might use PGT-A for family-balancing purposes. For example, a patient with a daughter might choose to transfer a male embryo. Cultural factors can also affect the gender patients select.

Our fertility center works closely with patients to help them determine if this treatment plan is right for their unique needs.

Learn more about what happens during the IVF with PGT-A process

Family balancing through IVF with PGT-A begins with a female patient, or an egg donor, taking medications that cause multiple eggs to mature. When the eggs reach an ideal size, the doctor retrieves them during a simple procedure.

The doctor then sends the eggs to the lab, where an embryologist fertilizes them with sperm from a male patient or sperm donor. After fertilization, the PGT-A process can begin.

Biopsy. On day 5 or 6 of embryo development, the embryologist biopsies each embryo. This process consists of the embryologist making a small hole in the embryo and removing cells for testing. These cells come from the portion of the embryo that develops into the placenta, leaving the cells that will develop into the fetus untouched.

Freezing. After the biopsy, the embryologist freezes the embryos using a flash-freezing method called vitrification.

Testing. Next, the IVF lab sends the cells to a genetics laboratory, where a specialist examines the chromosomes of the embryos, including the two sex chromosomes that determine the gender of each embryo.

Results. The doctor reviews the results with the patients and helps them determine which embryo to transfer into the uterus of the female patient or a gestational surrogate.

Patients often tell our Texas fertility doctors about the sense of empowerment and hope they feel when growing their families through IVF with PGT-A.