Learn how PGT-A for recurrent miscarriage can help you have a rainbow baby

Having one miscarriage is heartbreaking but having two or more can be devastating. After having multiple miscarriages, it’s common to wonder if you’ll ever be able to welcome a healthy baby. Thankfully, Texas Fertility Center offers compassionate support and highly effective recurrent pregnancy loss treatment options. PGT-A for recurrent miscarriage is one of the most common treatments that our Austin fertility center team uses to help our patients become parents.

Using PGT-A, we can determine which embryos are chromosomally normal. Our team can also see which ones contain chromosomal abnormalities that can lead to miscarriages and birth defects. Because about half of all miscarriages are due to chromosomal abnormalities, PGT-A is a very effective recurrent pregnancy loss treatment.

What does this recurrent pregnancy loss treatment involve?

When pursuing PGT-A, also known as preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy, it’s important to know that this treatment occurs during an IVF cycle. In vitro fertilization, or IVF, is a multi-step fertility treatment.

It first requires the female patient to take ovarian stimulation medication to encourage her body to produce multiple eggs. Next, the patient will come to our Austin fertility center for an outpatient egg retrieval procedure. Our experienced embryologists will fertilize the patient’s eggs with sperm from her partner or a donor.

The embryologists will monitor the growth and development of the resulting embryos for several days. Between Day 5 and Day 7, the first step of PGT-A for recurrent miscarriage can occur. An embryologist will use a specialized laser to carefully remove six to eight cells from each embryo. This embryo biopsy is performed on the outer layer of the embryo, known as the trophectoderm, which will become the placenta. As a result, there is little risk of damaging the embryo during the biopsy.

Our Austin fertility center team will then freeze the embryos before sending the biopsies to a genetics laboratory. About a week later, we’ll receive the test results. This information will help the fertility doctor transfer an embryo that is chromosomally normal.

Who can benefit from PGT-A for recurrent miscarriage?

At Texas Fertility Center, we find that several groups of women can benefit from preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy. In addition to women who have had multiple miscarriages, women over age 35 and patients who have a history of IVF cycle failure can also benefit from this test. You can speak with your fertility doctor to determine whether this recurrent pregnancy loss treatment is right for you.

Know that there’s always hope on the path to parenthood. If you’re having trouble keeping a pregnancy, consider PGT-A for recurrent miscarriage. Contact us for more information or to make an appointment with one of our fertility doctors.