Gender Screening
At Fertility Philippines, we understand that some families may have personal or medical reasons to know the gender of their child prior to embryo implantation. Our Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidies (PGT-A) offers a safe and effective method to virtually guarantee the gender of your choice during your in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle.
Understanding Gender Selection (Sex Selection)
Gender selection or sex selection helps couples know the gender of their embryo before pregnancy occurs using preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A). This is an additional technique to our in vitro fertilization (IVF) with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to determine the sex of each formed embryo. As the final step to the IVF procedure, the embryos of the chosen sex are implanted into the mother’s uterine cavity.
Our embryologist will test the embryo after its development and before its transfer into the uterus. That’s why we try to collect more eggs to increase the likelihood of producing a healthy embryo of your desired gender. It is important to note that not all fertilized eggs develop into chromosomally normal (euploid) embryos, so a higher starting count provides more chances for success.
PGT-A also identifies other genetic diseases or details to improve the chances of pregnancy. If more than one embryo of the desired gender is implanted back into the uterus, there’s a chance of a higher twin pregnancy rate.
This reproductive technology has been proven reliable over the past 30 years for the application of medical sex selection and improving IVF outcomes.
The Genetic Testing for Gender Selection
While testing the embryos for transfer, PGT-A can identify both the gender and the risks for miscarriages that may occur for women over 35 with recurrent pregnancy loss.
During IVF with ICSI, genetic testing is carried out through the following steps:
- Egg Retrieval. A thin needle is connected to a suction device to pull the eggs and fluid out of each follicle in the ovaries.
- Fertilization. Our embryologist will fertilize the eggs with the male partners’ sperm on the same day of egg retrieval.
- Embryo Development. The embryos are cultured in incubators about 3 to 5 days until they reach the blastocyst stage, which happens when an embryo prepares to hatch from its outer shell to implant on the uterine lining.
- Embryo Biopsy. Take a cell sample from each embryo to run genetic diagnosis and determine the sex through PGT-A. This typically takes 7 to 14 days starting on the day the embryo develops.
- Embryo Transfer. The embryos of the desired sex are implanted on the mother’s uterus.
- Pregnancy Test. The female patient is prescribed medication for 14 days to optimize the results of pregnancy.
PGT-A identifies if the embryo has two X chromosomes (XX – female) or one X and Y chromosomes (XY – male). This testing screens all 23 pairs of chromosomes to determine if an embryo has a total number of 46 chromosomes. This allows clients the flexibility to decide their desired gender for transfer.
Why Consider Gender Screening Your Embryos?
Many couples or intended parents opt for gender selection for reasons such as:
- Family Balancing: Have children of both sexes or achieve an only child of a specific sex.
- Medical Reasons: Prevent gender-linked genetic disorder like hemophilia or down syndrome.
- Personal Preference: Preserve tradition or follow an external influence about the gender of their child.
To get more insights about gender selection, it is important to consult with our fertility experts.
Your Guide to Gender Screening at Fertility Philippines
Our fertility experts can determine an embryo’s biological sex with nearly 99% accuracy. To ensure enough viable euploid embryos are created for transfer, we will guide you through the following process:
- Consultation. Meet with one of our fertility specialists to discuss your goals, medical history, and queries you have about the sex selection. We’ll explain the PGT-A process in detail and its relation to IVF.
- Preimplantation Testing. Genetic screening will be performed to identify the gender of each of your developed embryos.
- Embryo Transfer. After knowing the sex of your embryo, we will complete the transfer.
The success of this transfer will be highly influenced by the maternal age of the intended parent, the quality of embryos, and the sperm quality. This is why our clinic understands that every case is unique and we are ready to further explain the benefits of gender selection.
Take the Next Step to Your IVF Journey
Whether you’re considering fertility treatment for the first time or you have conceived unsuccessfully multiple times, Fertility Philippines will provide you expert guidance regarding your option. Our fertility experts will make sure that you are in the right hands.