PGD offers a wide range of reproductive options
"Shadow is just an 11-month old boy, but a victim. He has got pneumonia and an enlarged liver and spleen. He was finally diagnosed with thalassemia. A bone marrow transplantation costing over one million baht is the most effective medical treatment to save his life."

"Marwin is another thalassemia sufferer. He is quiet small and retarded when compared to children of the same age. He has to receive blood transfusion therapy every month to maintain his growth and developement. If not effectively managed, Marwin may die at 15 years of age."

Thalassemia, an inherited, genetic blood disorder, is a chronic debilitating disease which can be lethal. Patients must struggle through their life in order to fight this severe disease. To live longer, they need constant treatment involving regular blood transfusions as well as regular clinical visits. Repeated blood transfusions can also cause problems of iron overload which can damage many organs such as liver, heart, skin and pancrease. Even more unfortunately, infants with Thalassemia, like shadow, may grow slowly, develop severe problems or die if they don't receive proper treatment. Although bone marrow transplantations can offer a complete cure for patients with thalassemia major, it is not an easy task. for the best tissue match, bone marrow is donated from a brother or sister.

The dedication of parents to the health of their children is first and foremost as their children grow. In addition to physical health and development, parents always realize that social and psychological health of their children really does count. Sad to say, a life with thalassemia is an absolute nightmare for children and their families.

To tackle the root of the problem, parents who want to have a baby free of disease can take advantage of PCD, an assisted reproductive technology. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) (also known as Embryo Screening) is a form of genetic diagnosis performed prior to implantation. It is a reasonable choice for couples at risk of transmitting hereditary genetic diseases to their children. PGD allows scientists to choose unaffected embryos and transfer them to a woman undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

PGD is very powerful and can be beneficial to many couples. It can be applies in many different circumstances to serve the needs of individual couples that are at risk of conceiving genetically abnormal children. Superior A.R.T., one of the leading providers of PGD in Southeast Asia, offers comprehensive PDG option to interested couples.

Superior A.R.T. also offers PGD to couples who have identifiable genetic disorders, including thalassemia, breast cancer and many more. We believe that it would be less upsetting to discard an abnormal embryo before implantation, rather than go through early pregnancy and make the difficult decision whether to continue with an abnormal pregnancy or abort it. In those couples with a complete analysis of their genetic defects, Superior A.R.T. can test for such abnormalities in their embryos in order to prevent those undesirable genetic abnormalities. A search among family members for a bone marrow donor that can provide HLA matching stem cells may enable you to use PGD to bring a child into the world (this topic will be continued in the next article).

PGD is also used to screen for genetic chromosomal abnormalities due to advanced maternal age. These disorder are more likely to occur in women 35 years if age and older and lead to problems such as Down's syndrome or early miscarriage. The chance of these chromosomal problems increases with maternal age, regardless of family history.

PGD requires biopsy (removal) if cells from each embryo for analysis. Just like couples with infertility problems, you will need to have IVF cycle to create a number of embryos. Although many IVF centres offer PGD services, it is best to use a centre that has experience with PGD in order to achieve the best results. This is because embryo biopsy is highly skilled procedure. Recent studies show that biopsy skill has a big impact on embryo survival.

At Superior A.R.T. couples can be assured that they are always in safe hands. The centre employs a team of professionals who have extensive experience and expertise in the diverse areas of embryos science and who use cutting-edge laboratory equipment. Once the centre receives your blood and DNA test, our specialists create a test kit specifically for your family. When the test kit is available, the biopsied cells are analyzed to screen which embryos have the genetically transmitted disease and which embryos are free of disease. This enables us to selects inlay non-affected embryos to transfer.

While other clinics conduct embryo biopsies on Day 3 of the embryo's development, when they consist of only six to eight cells and just a single cell is removed, Superior A.R.T. implements advanced embryo culture techniques, allowing us to wait until the embryos have reached their fifth day of development, called the blastocyst stage, when the embryo possesses over a hundred cells. At this embryo stage, three to five cells can be removed for the tests which greatly increase the rate of success of PGD.

Thalassemia is a lot more common than most people think, particularly in parts of Southeast Asia, including Thailand. Approximately 30-40 per cent of Thais carry the Thalassemia gene. More significantly, in 16 per cent of married couples both partners are affected by the Thalassemia gene. These couples are at risk of giving birth to babies affected with Thalassemia.

Why take a risk? Have your blood checked and tested to see if you are a thalassemia carrier. And if you are planning a pregnancy, call us and make an appointment. Our physicians are always available to answer your questions and discuss your specific situation.

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