Genetic test helps couple overcome IVF hurdles

Bengaluru: Their journey to parenthoo d wasn't easy. In their seven years of marriage, Satyan Cha wla, 34, and his wife Avani faced problems in Invitro fertilization (IVF) process, not once but thrice. However, their years of wait didn't go futile.
Recently, Avani gave birth to a healthy baby at the Manipal Ankur And rology Reproductive Services (MAARS), thanks to pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS).
P GS, a procedure used to examine embryos for genetic or chromosomal defects before implantation, and the latest analytics using next-generation sequencing (NGS), helped reduce risks in the IVF process. This is the first such case in Bengaluru.
With many women in the city postponing motherhood plans, there's a rise in the number of IVF cases. However, in the routine IVF procedure, pregnancy loss is 12-15% and implantation failure 30%. PGS helps in identifying disorders at an early stage and prevents unwanted pregnancy losses or defects in the child.
It also checks implantation failure, one of the most common causes of failure of IVF procedure. "PGS increases pregnancy rate to almost 60-65% and reduces miscarriage chances or implantation failure. With PGS and NGS, more detailed genetic information can be obtained through genome sequencing of embryos. The specificity of this test is 99%," said Dr Bina Vasan, head of MAARS.
Dr Varsha Samson Roy, chief embryo logist at Manipal Ankur, who is heading the PGS programme, said the technique is especially recommended for women aged above 35, those with a history of repeated pregnancy problems, failed IVF attempts and infertility of their spouses.