https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 14 Jul 2026 20:43:52 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1919249 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:00:12 +0000 nanilani 1919249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are both planning on getting tested before TTC and are in the process of coordinating it with our doctors. I hadn't thought about it either until my gynecologist recommended it, but it turns out my ethnicity has a high carrier rate for CF. My insurance won't cover genetic testing without medical necessity (and the ACOG guidelines aren't enough to justify it), but that ended up being a blessing in disguise because while trying to find financially reasonable alternatives I learned about Counsyl. It's a saliva test you can take at home that screens for ~100 diseases, not just CF. Most people can have the genotyping test done for $99 or less, which is worth it to us since we have no clue about any carrier genes in our families that we might need to worry about. Supposedly the more detailed sequencing test is capped at $199 (see <a href="http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-counsyl-still-99)" rel="nofollow">http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/is-counsyl-still-99)</a>. I haven't verified this second figure with Counsyl directly, but the Director of Women's Health at Counsyl also commented on that post and didn't say it was wrong!</p> <p>I know I sound like a commercial, but I swear I don't work for them! I'm just very excited about having found a more thorough and less expensive option :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1919054 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 10:46:15 +0000 LindsayInNY 1919054@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our RE recommended it as standard IF procedure so I did it without really thinking. Well, I'm Catholic with no known Jewish ancestors and came back a carrier for a particular Ashkenazi Jewish disease. If DH had tested positive, it would have definitely changed our approach on TTC. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1919010 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 10:22:03 +0000 Mamaof2 1919010@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Newbee: Our RE had us meet with a genetic counselor but after answering all of her questions she didn't think we needed to go any further - there were no flags </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918891 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 09:34:38 +0000 oliviaoblivia 1918891@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We didn't test. Neither of us have a family history of anything scary and we didn't have trouble getting our keeping pregnancies. If we had had any issues at all I would have tested in a heart beat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918864 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 09:20:46 +0000 MsMini 1918864@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Even though I have an increased likelihood of being a CF carrier due to a family member who had CF (she is deceased) we opted not to test as we would have not pursued IVF with PGD for that particular issue. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918850 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 09:16:29 +0000 Mrs.KMM 1918850@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I tend to be of the belief that knowledge is power. The results may or may not change whether you and your DH have a child but it may mean you'd be better to proceed a certain way to try to ensure you have a healthy child. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918790 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:51:19 +0000 Mrs. BD 1918790@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did. Both my husband and I are Ashkenazi Jews, so we had to do it to test for Tay Sachs. I knew that his brother and dad were positive, so we did it first. Since we were doing it, we decided to test for it all just in case. I like to know the facts before I go into something...especially in this case. I don't want to have to make the decision to abort or not based on the results. I'd rather make the decision to conceive or not. I have no idea what we would've done if something scary came back positive. Thankfully, everything is okay! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918784 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:45:55 +0000 ElbieKay 1918784@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm also an Ashkenazi Jew so had a panel of tests run for that. I was a carrier for one disease so my husband was tested. Luckily he is not a carrier so there was no issue for us.</p> <p>My tests were run after I got pregnant though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918774 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:38:14 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 1918774@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>After TTC for almost two years we had it done. We found out my DH has an issue with his chromosomes. If it wasn't for infertility we wouldn't have done it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918768 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:31:43 +0000 mrs. bird 1918768@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had it done because I'd had repeate losses. They tested each of us for things that made sense to them based on our background, for instance, mr. Bird was tested for sickle cell &amp; I wasn't, I was tested for CF in the first round of testing and he wasn't, when I tested positive for being a CF carrier, then they tested him. I had no idea I would be a carrier for it, and if he had been as well it would have had a huge impact on our plans. I'm glad we had it done. We also found out there was no genetic explanation for my losses, it was an anatomical issue that was surgically corrected, but my miscarriage risk was 85%, so I'm all for whatever info you can find out, some things you can't do anything about, some you can, but knowledge is power. Maybe it won't change your plans to have a baby, but if there's a great risk that your child could have a fatal illness and you can avoid it by screening embryos, you're just choosing to help your child to be healthy and avoid pain. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918760 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:26:17 +0000 Carobee 1918760@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are going to TTC at the beginning of next year, so this summer I did a full panel because my mother is a carrier for Fragle X. We had already made the decision to do IVF with PGD if I was also a Fragile X carrier since we would have been at risk regardless of DH because of how that disease is transmitted.</p> <p>Happily, I did not inherit her bad X, but we did discover I was a carrier for Neimann-Pick type A - and we immediately had DH tested for that. He is not a carrier, so we can go ahead and TTC the old fashioned way. If he had been a carrier, we would have moved immediately to IVF with PGD.</p> <p>I am SO happy we did it. There is zero history of Neimann-Pick in our family, and actually, there is zero history of Fragile X - we just discovered my mother was a carrier while testing for another problem. The test (we used Counsyl) really gave us a lot of knowledge, and I like knowing exactly what is being carried in our family so I can give that information to our future children down the road. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918749 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:13:18 +0000 thismustbetheplace 1918749@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <br /><p><i>This comment has been deleted by the original poster.</i></p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918745 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:11:14 +0000 hilsy85 1918745@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I did it because I am an Ashkenazi Jew and so there are specific things to test for. I was tested and then my dh was tested when it came back that I was a carrier. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918741 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:08:07 +0000 blackbird 1918741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had to have a full panel when I had repeated losses....they checked all my chromosomes, etc but didn't find anything. It was just good for me to know that I wasn't passing something down that I need to possibly select for (IE if we had a major problem, I would have to do selective IVF to remove the defective eggs. I wouldn't not have children because of it, but I would have eggs with defective chromosomes screened out to avoid carrying a terminal fetus) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-do-preconception-genetic-screening#post-1918735 Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:02:44 +0000 Newbee 1918735@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I can't decide if we should go through preconception genetic screening. I feel that it wouldn't change our decision on whether we would have a child or not. If we weren't having problems and just conceived naturally, we would have never thought to have something like this done, so I feel that I am only considering it now because the fertility specialist mentioned it.</p> <p>We don't have any red flags in our family history that we know of. I am 32 and husband is 29 and we are TTC for #1.</p> <p>If you did do preconception genetic screening, did only one of you do the screening and then have the other do screening if you carried a recessive gene? </p>