WHAT IS PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS, AND FOR WHICH COUPLES THEY ARE PERFORMED? WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES?

Genetic disorders can be diagnosed during the pregnancy or following the birth is possible currently. However, probable genetic disorders can be diagnosed with methods like ultrasonography and amniocentesis only in the fourth month of the pregnancy, and in case that a serious anomaly is found, pregnancy is terminated in about fifth month. This causes a physical and psychological trauma in couples. The latest improvements in genetic science in recent years have ensured genetic studies on the embryo grown in laboratory with in vitro fertilization methods, and to place the selected healthy embryos in the uterus of the mother. This method is called Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis. Special methods like Florescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) or Polimerase Chain Reaction (PCR) are used for genetic diagnosis. Diagnosis of numerical abnormalities in embryos like monosomies and trisomies (Down syndrome and other trisomies) and single-gene defects (Hemophilia, Mediterranean anemia, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophies, etc.) is possible with PGD. Thus, it is ensured that healthy embryos with no disorders transferred to the mother, and healthy babies are born.

Pre-implantation diagnosis is performed for:

	Couples that are carriers of a genetic or hereditary disorder,
	Couples that have children with a genetic disorder,
	With the purpose of HLA genotyping (tissue typing)
	Defining of disorders that show genetic predisposition
	Women in advanced age group (37 tears of age and over) who are included in assisted reproductive technologies
	Couples with repeated abortions in the early periods of pregnancy,
	Couples that the repeated attempts for achieving pregnancy had failed.
	Chromosome defects or genetic disorders that accompany serious male infertility.