Graduate Story: The Value of PGS Testing

15, September 2014: Today, Life IVF Center and its staff were proud to take graduation pictures with happy graduated parents-to-be that have many lessons to teach all IVF hopefuls.

The couple had been long-time patients at Life IVF Center, who first began treatment over two full years ago. Due to the patient's age, egg retrievals were difficult, not always successful, and did not retrieve many eggs. But in most cases, the medical team was able to produce embryos and ready them for transfer.

Naturally, given the few embryos they had, the couple were very cautious about their treatment. Being international patients, fear of squandering the long distance they traveled for each treatment only made them more conservative. As a result, after discussing with their doctor about Preimplantation Genetic Screening, or PGS, they had difficulty making the decision. Ultimately, they decided not to perform any genetic testing for their cycles out of fear for potentially harming their precious embryos.

Their situation then took a tragic turn. After three consecutive embryo transfers and positive pregnancy tests, the couple miscarried, bringing a painful end to each attempt. After each cycle, their doctor tried to explain the potential value of genetic testing, but in retrospect the couple admitted they were too concerned about risks to the embryo and did not properly weigh the potential upsides to the testing.

After the third miscarriage, the couple finally did some serious reevaluation and agreed to have PGS testing done on their next cycle. Fortunately, this cycle turned out differently - after PGS was used to test the formed embryos, the best quality example was transferred and the couple has now reached Life IVF's 10-week pregnancy milestone for graduation!

As difficult as it often is, this couple demonstrated the importance of perseverance when undergoing IVF treatment. While all IVF centers like to share stories of one-hit-wonder cases, it's important that all patients ready themselves emotionally for what always has the potential to be a years-long process. "No medicine is perfect", says Dr. Albert Wei, "Patients react differently to different treatments. Of course we do our best, but frankly some cases require many cycles to adjust course and find the best method for that patient". Life IVF Center certainly has alumni who have found success through this method as well - one of our most determined patients needed a full 18 cycles to finally have her baby, having failed to conceive at clinics around the world.

This story also reminds us of the value found in genetic screening. "Genetic testing does carry some risks", warned Molly Chu, Embryology Director at Life IVF Center, "but for many patients, especially older patients or difficult cases, the benefits can be worth it". As such, Life IVF Center strongly encourages patients to "get smart" regarding their own treatment and use resources from the clinic and online to help make the most informed decisions.

This couple definitely showed that with the right combination of a dedicated couple, skilled IVF team, and a little bit of luck, dreams can still come true.

For Media Contact:
Company: Life IVF Center
Address: 3500 Barranca Pkwy Suite 300
Irvine CA 92606
Phone Number 949-788-1133
FAX Number 949-788-1136
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.lifeivfcenter.com/