Genetic Testing

Alongside your reproductive journey

If you or your partner carry the risk of inherited conditions, such as birth defects or genetic disorders, you may decide to undertake some genetic testing as part of your fertility treatment program.

Virtus Australia provides genetic services for Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening (PGT-A) and other genetic testing procedures using the latest genetic testing platform known as the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). Your fertility coach with Virtus Fertility Centre Singapore can provide the information and support you need to make decisions related to genetic testing.

Who Should Consider PGD?

If you are concerned about any of the following issues, PGD may give you a peace of mind and help us select an unaffected embryo for transfer.

• Risk of your baby inheriting a known genetic condition
• Known family history of chromosome rearrangement in you or your partner

Some of the single gene disorders we can test for include Huntington’s disease, cystic Fibroisis, Thalassaemia and Fragile X. Please discuss any genetic concerns or risks with your fertility specialist to find out more about this procedure.

What is Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis?

Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis or PGD is a highly sophisticated technique that tests embryos for a specific genetic or chromosomal abnormality. It allows us to select embryos that are not affected with the condition being tested for, prior to implantation and pregnancy. PGD is offered in conjunction with an IVF cycle.

 If you choose to undertake a PGD procedure, your embryos will be created and biopsied in our laboratory before the cells are transferred to the PGD centre at the National University Hospital, Singapore, for analysis.  

For PGD for chromosomal anomalies such as Robertsonian translocation and genetic mutations such as Thalassaemia, a biopsy of the blastocyst is usually performed where a few cells (3 to 5 cells) are taken from the trophectoderm.  

This approach significantly reduces the chance of a misdiagnosis as compared with one or two cells taken from an 8-cell embryo. The outcome of pregnancy after the transfer of  a biopsied normal blastocyst is better than the transfer of a biopsied normal 8-cell embryo.

For more information about accessing PGD through Virtus Fertility Centre Singapore, please make an appointment with one of our fertility specialists.