First time pregnant here - I'm not quite 35 yet but would like to do the NIPT. Is there anything I should communicate to my doctor at my first visit to increase the odds of being able to have this covered by insurance?

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Anonymous wrote:Ok apparently I’m scheduled for it at 11.5 weeks. Do I need the nuchal scam too?

You don’t! I was offered it and turned it down - really high false positive rate and nothing to do about bad results except abort. We waited til 20 weeks for the more accurate scans.

Uh, are you nuts? You wouldn't terminate a pregnancy based on nuchal results. You would do an amnio.

Oh calm down. The PP's point is obviously that a lot of people get unnecessarily worried by NT false positives. I am glad I did not do NT for that reason. And if it is a true positive (based on an invasive test) knowing only helps if you are open to terminating. If your goal is to prepare to manage the baby's health issues then the 20 week anatomy scan will tell you what you need to know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok apparently I’m scheduled for it at 11.5 weeks. Do I need the nuchal scam too?

You don’t! I was offered it and turned it down - really high false positive rate and nothing to do about bad results except abort. We waited til 20 weeks for the more accurate scans.

Uh, are you nuts? You wouldn't terminate a pregnancy based on nuchal results. You would do an amnio.

Anonymous wrote:Ok apparently I’m scheduled for it at 11.5 weeks. Do I need the nuchal scam too?

You don’t! I was offered it and turned it down - really high false positive rate and nothing to do about bad results except abort. We waited til 20 weeks for the more accurate scans.

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Anonymous wrote:How were you able to do Nipt and nuchal? I was told that I had to choose one or the other. Do I need to advocate for both?

Of course you can do both. You just might have to pay for one.

Is there a point to both though?

Yes, there is. A large nuchal can tell you about other chromosome problems, genetic syndromes, heart defects etc. Please still do the nuchal translucency ultrasound.

I think this is a personal choice based on whether on the basis of an abnormal result you would consider termination (obvious after a CVS or an amnio where appropriate). If you would TFMR then finding out earlier is definitely better, if not then I don't see the point of the added anxiety. You'll still do an anatomy scan at 20 weeks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How were you able to do Nipt and nuchal? I was told that I had to choose one or the other. Do I need to advocate for both?

Of course you can do both. You just might have to pay for one.

Is there a point to both though?

Yes, there is. A large nuchal can tell you about other chromosome problems, genetic syndromes, heart defects etc. Please still do the nuchal translucency ultrasound.

Anonymous wrote:How were you able to do Nipt and nuchal? I was told that I had to choose one or the other. Do I need to advocate for both?

10 weeks for NIPT for my wife. I think 12 weeks for first tri scan. We did all the tests because she was high risk - insurance covered everything.

As PPs have said the NT does have value beyond the NIPT which only screens for a limited set of chromosomal conditions. I think mine only screens for Trisomy 21, 18 and 13. Some of the NIPTs also screen for microdeletions.

That being said I did the NIPT, was not offered the NT and was perfectly happy with that because NT is relatively imprecise as I understand it. You can get an abnormal result on the NT and in the majority of cases everything is totally fine. The stress of that was not worth it for me. NIPT also has false positives but not nearly at the same rate.

Anonymous wrote:How were you able to do Nipt and nuchal? I was told that I had to choose one or the other. Do I need to advocate for both?

I did both. Blood draw for Maternit21 around 11 weeks and then NT scan about 10 days later. Both were covered by insurance (Aetna) because I'm AMA. While NIPT has a lower false positive rate, the NT is useful as can confirm NIPT results and can visualize structural aspects of the baby that a blood draw cannot. The only difference is that I didn't have additional blood drawn with the NT scan.

Anonymous wrote:How were you able to do Nipt and nuchal? I was told that I had to choose one or the other. Do I need to advocate for both?

My provider offered both and I'm doing both. A large NT can be a sign of a heart defect in a chromosomally normal fetus. Additionally, a low papp-a (part of the bloodwork that goes with the nuchal) can mean placental issues that need to be monitored down the road.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How were you able to do Nipt and nuchal? I was told that I had to choose one or the other. Do I need to advocate for both?

Of course you can do both. You just might have to pay for one.

Is there a point to both though?

Anonymous wrote:How were you able to do Nipt and nuchal? I was told that I had to choose one or the other. Do I need to advocate for both?

Of course you can do both. You just might have to pay for one.

10w2d for cell fee dna and 11 weeks for NT.

Anonymous wrote:I’m scheduled with a genetic counselor at 11 weeks 3 days but don’t see that I’m scheduled for cell free dna test yet. What week did you have yours done if over 35?

At my practice/hospital you meet with the genetic counselor as part of the NIPT test. You meet with them; they explain the test; at the end they take your blood.

How were you able to do Nipt and nuchal? I was told that I had to choose one or the other. Do I need to advocate for both?