IVF to avoid CF --- please share your experiences

[anonymous]

Hello Everyone,

Well my husband and I are both carriers. We have 1 son w/cf and 1 wo/cf. We are considering having another baby through IVF. They will test the embryos for CF and implant only carrier and non-carrier embryos resulting in babies free of CF.

If anyone has done this could you share your experience please. I have a few questions ....

How was taking the hormones....was the egg extraction painful....and how did you feel morally about selecting to avoid CF instead of letting mother nature deciding.

I have decided not to have another baby naturally....and I am just investigating our options. I for sure will not get pregnant and if the baby turns up with CF get an abortion....this is NOT an option for me incase some of you think I am not aware of this option.

I do not intend to offend anybody with this email....These are MY decisions and I do not judge others for their decisions. I just want to know if anyone out there has had IVF to avoid CF and what was the results.

Thanks<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

Didn't get far enough into IVF to answer your pain Q (on my wife's behalf) but we did deal with the moral issue of choosing non-cf embrios. Didn't have a problem with that. We did however have a moral issue with getting pregnant, learning of cf through CVS or amnio then terminating at that point. <i>In theory</i> that shouldn't happen if they select the non-cf embrios through PGD but there are always potential errors (which is why they recommend a CVS or amnio - if PGD wasn't correct). But as you mentioned, you're not comfortable terminating the pregnancy - so the only point in doing CVS or amnio is if you just want to know ahead of time. As the other post points out, both of those procedures have risk of miscarriage (stats vary but I've heard numbers around 1 in 200).

Jason 30 w/cf

 

[anonymous]

I know this isn't the direct answer you wish, but it will get you in touch with someone who has been in your situation and did PGD successfully. Visit this website: <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.ivf.com/started.html">http://www.ivf.com/started.html</a> register as a user and then send a Question to the doctor. This is what I did when I was trying to find another couple where the man HAD CF and they were doing IVF with ICSI to get pregnant. The doctor took my information and contacted one of his patients (who now has two year old twins via this method) who in turn contacted me and shared her story with me. We actually stay in contact via email and it is great to know somebody who has been through the same thing- I understand. If nobody responds to your posts here, and not because they don't want to but because we've had this Q before but nobody had been through IVF/PGD, I really suggest you go to the website and email the doctor. He was more than willing to contact one of his patients and ask them if they would be willing to talk to me.

There are also IVF/PGD support boards where you may be able to get some more specific, firsthand experiences from couples who are acutally going through the proceudres right now or have been successful. Just a thought.

Julie (wife to Mark 24 w/CF)