Victoria is one of the very few centers in Kenya that offers Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) services. PGS is a recent development in modern medicine, used to evaluate the genetic characteristics of embryos before implantation, thereby increasing the chances of giving birth to a healthy fetus.
What is Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening?
Pre-implantation genetic Screening is used to genetically and chromosomally profile the embryo before implantation. This technique is used to assess if the embryo has any defects or carries any congenital diseases. This way only the best embryos will be implanted thereby reducing the probability of an unhealthy fetus.
Earlier only 5 chromosomes of the total 23 chromosomes could be analyzed. But, with PGS all 23 chromosomes can be analyzed which gives more clarity into the profile of the embryo.
Thus, thanks to this technique, only the best and unaffected embryos are transferred into the woman’s uterus. This is an excellent alternative to currently performed post-conception diagnostic procedures, which can lead to selective termination of pregnancy if the fetus has problems.
PGS is currently the only option to avoid the high risk of children having genetic diseases before conception. It’s an interesting way to prevent inherited genetic diseases.
At what stage of treatment can this be done?
PGS is one of the stages of the in vitro fertilization cycle. After egg retrieval, the sperm and egg are combined to form an embryo. Pre-implantation genetic screening is applied at this stage where the genetic makeup of the embryo is analyzed. The best embryos are implanted into the woman’s uterus through an embryo transfer procedure.
How do we know if we need PGS?
Pre-implantation genetic screening is commonly used in the following cases.
- Multiple failed in vitro fertilization
- Multiple miscarriages
- If one of the couples has congenital diseases such as thalassemia or color blindness.
- However, depending on each case, the doctor will call to find out if this technique is necessary for the couple.