What Happens if we start an IVF cycle without genetic testing results

[Anonymous]

Apologies for a newbie question, but here it goes - we've just been referred to SG. My cycle starts in a few days, and all of our testing is done EXCEPT for the counsyl genetic testing.
What would be the risks of starting IVF this cycle absent the counsyl results? Am I correct in assuming we could have the embryos genetically tested, or is this not the way it goes?

I'm 41 and know there are risks with my advanced age. That's why I'm both eager to start this cycle and not lose another month, but wondering if we should postpone a cycle till counsyl test results are back. If anyone could tell me how important Counsyl results are to a successful cycle, I'd appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest adding PGS to your IVF protocol. That will tell you a lot more than Counsyl will.

How soon do you expect your Counsyl results? An IVF cycle will start with 2-3 weeks of BCP, so you may have time before you really get into the thick of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest adding PGS to your IVF protocol. That will tell you a lot more than Counsyl will.

How soon do you expect your Counsyl results? An IVF cycle will start with 2-3 weeks of BCP, so you may have time before you really get into the thick of things.

The bolded part is wrong. PGS identifies anything only if there is an extra or missing chromosome. If there is a disorder resulting from both you and DH being carriers PGS will not catch it. Counsyl will tell you if you're a carrier for any of the 100 disorders they screen for. If both you and husband are carriers then you'll need a PGD of your embryos specifically for that.

When I asked my SG nurse if both of us need Counsyl she said yes - because they rarely see people who have 100% normal report. Ironically DH turned out to be one of them. I have both biotin defficiencey gene and clotting mutations.

[Anonymous]

Okay, yes, you are right, I didn't mean to suggest the Counsyl test wasn't important, and yes, the two are different types of tests. But it sounds like OP has already done Counsyl and is waiting on results.

I do think PGS is wise, but for other reasons. A lot of embryos are abnormal, and the portion gets higher with age.

[Anonymous]

If you or your partner is from a family known to carry hereditary disease, then yes, maybe it is wise to postpone your cycle, because if Consyl test resulted in positive for hereditary disease, for example, you would looking at PGD to filter out the affected embryos.
If not, I d start with or without PGS/CCS.
You know PGD is different from PGS/CCS, right?

[Anonymous]

PGS/PGD isn't always an option. I didn't have many eggs and only two embryos so at 3 days my doctor advocated for a fresh transfer even though the plan had been testing.

[Anonymous]

I would go ahead, especially if you don't have any family history. I would plan for the PGS, regardless. They like to have the counsyl test in case anything comes up that they can then specifically screen out during PGS, but PGS alone is much more important, esp for AMA when we have higher rates of abnormals that would likely result in miscarriage. genetic disorders are extremely rare but AMA abnormalities are not so rare. Anyway, Counsyl got us our results 7 days after receiving the samples, so even if you start the cycle you will likely still have time to use them. The results were not significant for us, we were both recessive carriers for not the same problems. While its true most people have some abnormality its very unlikely you both would be carriers for the same recessive or have a dominant one that someone in you family did not already experience. For this reason DH actually thought it was a bit of a crock. We had a couple miscarriages though so i wanted to cover all the bases. Without the miscarriages i probably wouldn't have done it, just done the pgs and icsi. Regarding pgd/pgs poster- I understand SG only does PGS now (which of course includes pgd.) Agree that time is of the essence, OP you are making the right call ! good luck & welcome to the ride!

[Anonymous]

I don't know if this is correct because I heard it from a friend (so you shouldn't definitely verify this), but my friend originally decided not to do Counsyl testing and was set with a start date for her first IVF. She had a few weeks before her cycle was going to start, so she and her husband decided to do Counsyl testing. Then the clinic said her IVF cycle could not start until after the test results were in. She was very frustrated because she could have proceeded without doing Counsyl, but once she opted for it, the cycle couldn't be started without the results. Something to check before you test.

[Anonymous]

Yes, SG would have delayed my start without Counsyl results (which as someone else said is silly because if I hadn't done it I could have proceeded), and also I would have had to sign something to proceed if anything came up on my results (nothing did) - but part of that may have been that I was using a sperm donor and so could not test the donor to see risk of something. But I don't know if I could have pushed on that.

[Anonymous]

Our SG nurse told us that if you opt to do Counsyl, they will not let you proceed to treatment until the results come back.

[Anonymous]

OP here - we planned to go ahead with our first cycle and take Cousyl results into account in our second cycle. BIG mistake.

As other posters mentioned here, the day after we did our blood tests and SG sent them off, I called SG to schedule the start of the cycle as my period was a week off. Only then did the nurse tell me they wouldn't do any treatment while Counsyl results were in process. I wish she had told me this before we did Counsyl, but you live and you learn in this journey, I guess. Now waiting one more month and trying clomid again.