To PGD or Not to PGD that is the question..

Hi again everyone and thanks for all the great help!!!! I am still on the fence about this. I have 2 boys, really really want a girl, I'm 37 no prior infertility. I know the odds for MS and a pretty sure thing with PGD. Now I am seeing all these stats for PGD and just not sure at all anymore. Do I dare MS only?????

A small study presented as a poster (Poster # 322) at American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in October 2004 looked at whether PGD can improve IVF success. The study was done by J. Stevens, Wale, Surrey, Schoolcraft and Gardner from the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine.

Title of the study: "Is aneuploidy screening for patients aged 35 or older beneficial?"

• The study results showed that the group of patients having PGD showed:
  
  • The same percentage rate of embryos developing to blastocysts by day 5
    
• Lower rates for pregnancy
  
• Lower rates for ongoing pregnancy
  
• Lower rates of embryo implantation
  
• Lower rates of miscarriages
  

However, this study was small, and therefore none of the differences between the 2 groups were statistically different.

Data from this study are shown in the table below:

This was an excellent study, and larger controlled randomized trials of PGS for aneuploidy are needed to determine whether it improves (or reduces) the chances for a healthy live birth outcome for infertile couples having IVF treatment.

It is important to consider that regardless of the outcome of a few studies, further research is needed from multiple IVF centers. What works (or doesn't) in one center might show a different result in another center

PGD does not help you get pregnant.  You do PGD for the guarantee.  Only you can decide if you are OK with an opposite.  If you can live with that, then you will likely have more embryos to choose from with just MS. It looks like the gals that do the 2-probe have several more to choose from too. 

So, whether PGD is beneficial or not is really not the question.  The studies say it is not unless you have some specific disease/condition that runs in the family.  The boy/girl answer was beneficial to me because I cannot live with an opposite.  I didn't do all of this to take that chance.  Only you can answer that for yourself though!

nuthinbutpink:

PGD does not help you get pregnant.  You do PGD for the guarantee.  Only you can decide if you are OK with an opposite.  If you can live with that, then you will likely have more embryos to choose from with just MS. It looks like the gals that do the 2-probe have several more to choose from too. 

So, whether PGD is beneficial or not is really not the question.  The studies say it is not unless you have some specific disease/condition that runs in the family.  The boy/girl answer was beneficial to me because I cannot live with an opposite.  I didn't do all of this to take that chance.  Only you can answer that for yourself though!

I totally agree. I couldn't go through all of this and get another boy. I know there are some that could but I'm just not one of them. I needed to make sure she was a girl baking inside!!

Had I been able to do PGD, I would have done it, at least once.  At 38, I really  wanted  the guarantee of a healthy baby and the gender was the icing on the cake. 

my thinking is, if i'm going through all this, i would want the guarantee.  we're doing HT for our third child (first girl), and i would not be happy with an opposite - we had planned for a long time to have only two children.  if we're going to have a third child, i wanted to be SURE that it is indeed a girl. 

tiger ling:

my thinking is, if i'm going through all this, i would want the guarantee.  we're doing HT for our third child (first girl), and i would not be happy with an opposite - we had planned for a long time to have only two children.  if we're going to have a third child, i wanted to be SURE that it is indeed a girl.

ITA!

 PGD was a must for me!  Even when I only had a few embies to work with and was at risk of losing all of them, I'd rather have cycled again than take a chance with MS alone.  I'm really glad too because we found out later my DH's sort was only 82%. 

We did the 5 probe and conceived twins.  Because of that, I felt confident skipping anymore genetic testing during the pregnancy.  AFP blood work isn't reliable with twins.  Their nuchal fold scan was normal and we knew the PGD had said they didn't have Down's so I never felt pressured to have an amnio and put them (and me) through that.  

That study was small, but it did not find anything out of the ordinary for PGD. For GS patients, PGD is all about the gender guarantee, not for a better cycle in any other sense. I like the 2-probe compromise.

NuthinButPink put it all very well.

WWP

PGD is also a must for me!  If I go through this, i want to have a HEALTHY BABY GIRL!!  Too much money and emotional toll to not have that result!  Good luck

I second all of the above!  I wanted the guarantee, not a 90% chance.  If you are paying the money, you should just go for the gold! 

Do you like playing russian roulette?

I've seen too much heartbreak on this board from ladies who went through hi-tec only to end up with an MS opposite

Not worth the risk imho.

I like the guarantee PGD offer.

One ? I am confused about on study though. How does the No PGD group have a higher % for on-going pregnancy and a higher % for miscarriage as well? Aren't they the same thing?