Genetic Testing

Has anyone here ever gone for genetic testing?A friend of mine was told be her doctor that she should go for genetic testing. Do most people do this?

Re: Genetic Testing

While it is very common DH and I decided not to have it done.

Some ethnicities are prone to certain debilitating conditions and for that reason find comfort in preparing for it by having genetic testing to see what genes they are carrying
and in what it could result in.

Re: Genetic Testing

There are different types of testing done at different stages of TTC and for different reasons. I had a panel of tests done for Ashkenazi Jews (Jews from Eatern Europe and Russia) before I was married. It tested to see if I was a carrier for certain genetic disorders that I could be a carrier for such as:

Tay-Sachs disease, Canavan disease, familial dysautonomia, Niemann-Pick (type A) disease, Fanconi anemia (group C), Bloom syndrome, Gaucher disease (the non-neuronopathic type), mucolipidosis type IV, and glycogen storage disease type 1. They also test for cystic fibrosis because it is often included in an Ashkenazi heritage screening panel, since it occurs with the same frequency in European Jews as in members of the non-Jewish Caucasian population (approximately 1/3,000).

I had a bunch of vials of blood drawn, but it was really non invasive and not painful.

If a woman and a man are both carriers for some of these disorders, they stand a 1 in 4 chance of having a child with the disease/disorder. A disease such as Tay Sach's is very painful and it is likely that a child born with this disease could die by the time they are 5. It was simply not a chance I was willing to take.

There are also other types of testing done that do other things. Karyotype testing identifies and evaluates the size, shape, and number of chromosomes in a sample of body cells. It determines whether the chromosomes of an adult have an abnormality that can be passed on to a child.

IMO, any information can be helpful regardless of the choices you make with your DH.

Re: Genetic Testing

Re: Genetic Testing

Yes, certain people of certain descents, are more likely carriers of particular diseases and it is recommended that they do genetic testing. My DH and I were tested because we're both Eastern European, Ashkenazi jews. He tested positive for something, but my test came back negative for it, thank goodness.

I have good friends who didn't bother with testing until they became pregnant - that's when they discovered they were both positive for Catavans - a fatal disorder. Thankfully both children they conceived were ok.

Re: Genetic Testing

Thanks for the info. I haven't even herad of half of those diseases before. INteresting!

Re: Genetic Testing

i also had it done i carry thallessemia anemia (cooley's anemia) a mediteranean form of anemia and since my dh is italian he was tested but thankfully is negative,
i think if you have any reason to believe you might carry something it is good to be tested so you can then make informed decisions
but it is not necessary for everyone

Re: Genetic Testing

HI, I am supposed to see one. I have a blood disorder (thrombophilia) its genetic and its basically blood clots which can lead to miscarriages.