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Health and Fitness · August 6, 2019

How PGD technique helps remove obstacles from path of parenthood

Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ARTs) like IVF treatment is considered to be a blessing for women who desire the joy of motherhood but are unable to attain it naturally. However, the purpose and utility of ARTs are not limited to aiding conception; it also includes screening the embryos for genetic abnormalities and ensuring the birth of a healthy child – which apparently would be a major concern for couples looking to conceive a child.

PGD is available for a large number of genetic disorders such as:

  • Hereditary cancer
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Haemophilia
  • Spinal muscular atrophy type 1
  • Glycogen storage
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Tay-Sachs disease
  • Alpha-thalassemia
  • Beta-thalassemia
  • Myotonic dystrophy
  • Huntington’s disease

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) does pretty much what the name suggests and is advisable when either of the parents has been diagnosed with a genetic abnormality. The embryos are subjected to testing in order to determine if they are carriers of the genetic abnormality before implantation. The primary goal here is to increase the chances of selecting a healthy embryo that would, in turn, develop into a healthy baby.

“These defects range in severity from minor anatomic abnormalities to extensive genetic disorders, including mental retardation. PGD is a breakthrough technique in detecting these disorders and transferring only the healthy embryos,” Dr Gautam Allahbadia says.

Dr Gautam Allahbadia -led IVF team at Millennium Medical Center (MMC), a premier IVF center for medical tourists in Dubai, is an early adopter of the PGD procedure – offering to-be parents assurance of a healthy baby. The MMC IVF fertility clinic in Dubai uses Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology to carry out PGD procedure.

For concerned parents looking to conceive a healthy child, PGD offers a simple solution. And considering that PGD successfully identifies about 2,000 inherited single gene disorders – the impact of conceiving a healthy baby is tremendous.