About cystic fibrosis screening
The goal of Dallas IVF is to help parents have healthy babies. To accomplish this goal, our Dallas fertility center offers preimplantation genetic diagnosis, PGD, to provide screening for diseases such as cystic fibrosis, one of the most common inheritable genetic disorders.
With help from this advanced IVF laboratory technique, you and your partner can have healthy babies, even if you’re at risk for passing cystic fibrosis to your children.
Why screening for cystic fibrosis is important
In the United States, more than 30,000 people live with cystic fibrosis and approximately 1,000 new cases are diagnosed in this country each year.
The disease is caused by a defective gene, which results in mucus buildup in the lungs and pancreas. Thick mucus causes lung infections and restricts breathing, and it also prevents the release of digestive enzymes in the pancreas.
The symptoms are serious and the average lifespan is just under 40 years; however, our Dallas fertility center offers screening for cystic fibrosis that can prevent the transmission of this progressive disease.
Parents with cystic fibrosis, as well as symptomless carriers, can pass on the disorder
Many patients who come to our Dallas fertility center know that they could pass a genetic disorder to their children. Many people are symptomless carriers and they may have no idea that their children are at risk. In fact, one in 31 Americans is an asymptomatic carrier of cystic fibrosis.
- If you have cystic fibrosis, you received two copies of the disease-causing gene from each parent.
- If you are a carrier of the disease, you received only one copy of the defective gene.
- When two carriers have a baby, there is a 25% chance the baby will have cystic fibrosis, a 50% chance the baby will be a carrier, and a 25% chance the baby will be healthy and not a carrier.
An IVF lab technique called preimplantation genetic diagnosis, PGD, can detect cystic fibrosis
PGD is a technique that is performed as part of an IVF cycle, in between the steps of egg retrieval and embryo transfer. You and your partner will provide a blood or saliva sample to screen for the cystic fibrosis gene. If the gene is present, our reference genetics lab will combine a genetic probe with six to eight cells from your IVF embryos between Days 5 and 7. This advanced diagnostic tool can determine which embryos are affected by cystic fibrosis.
If you’re looking for more information about screening for cystic fibrosis or any other inheritable condition, please contact Dallas IVF today.