Preimplantation genetic diagnosis  

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis helps to determine any anomalies of the embryo before being implanted. This method was introduced in the United Kingdom at the end of the 1980s. The first baby that underwent preimplantation genetic diagnosis was born in 1989. Nowadays, PGD is advised to couples with a high chance of transmitting a genetic disease, usually sex linked, in cases where a child with an abnormality has already been born (i.e.Down syndrome), if the woman is over 40. The benefits of PGD for most couples with infertility are the following:

1. The decrease of the triplet or quadruplet pregnancy rates.
2. The increase of the pregnancy rates by choosing and the best embryos to be transferred in the woman’s uterus or to be cryopreserved.
3. The decrease of the abortion rates.
4. The ability to give better advise, especially in couples that already have a child with some kind of a problem and therefore greatly sentimental.
5. The encouragement of couples that, although, they did not achieve pregnancy, yet their embryos are genetically healthy.

With PGD, several cases of abnormalities have been greatly reduced, such as, Down syndrome, sickle anaemia, Marfan syndrome, Tay-Sachs, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, thalassaemia or other severe genetic abnormalities.

Finally, PGD, offers the possibility of choosing the best quality embryos which will be able to survive pregnancy and be born healthy.