Genetic information in our cells is divided into small units called genes, which are responsible for all our physical characteristics and for the proper functioning of our body. There are always two copies of those genes, as we inherit one copy from each parent.
When a gene has a small alteration (known as a mutation), it may not function correctly and it might lead to a genetic disorder. However, most of us carry certain alterations which go unnoticed, without resulting in a disease. That is what being a carrier means.
The Compatibility Genetic Test (CGT, also known as Genetic Carrier Screening,) is a test that analyses the parents’ genes to detect alterations or mutations present. Once the results of both parents are available, a powerful and safe software compares them, exposing the coincidences and thus, the incompatibilities.
The Genetic Compatibility Test studies a total of 6,600 mutations linked to 600 genetic disorders.
Taking the test reduces the risk of having children who are affected by any of these genetic disorders from the general population risk of 1 in 100 to approximately 1 in 30,000.
90% of patients who undergo an assisted reproduction treatment at IVI become pregnant.
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IVI provides personalised care and support during all stages of treatment.
IVI is a pioneer in the latest assisted reproduction technology in order to present the best results.
We are not the most expensive choice. We offer the most treatment options in order to achieve the best results.
We are talking about a very simple procedure consisting in taking a blood sample and the results are available after about 3 weeks.
Patients can choose to have a blood sample taken at any IVI clinic or to do it in their home country if they prefer not to travel. In this case, IVI gets in touch with the laboratory to have the blood collection kit sent to the patient and to manage the sample´s shipping. The patient may also choose to have the sample taken at any laboratory in their city and send it to a testing facility, which will let us know once the results are available.
We can all be unaffected carriers without exhibiting any symptoms. To be a carrier means that out of the two copies of a given gene, only one of them shows an alteration. The other copy is still intact, so the gene works correctly and does not have any implications for the carrier.
We are faced with a problem when a fertilisation of the two gametes of two carriers with the same mutation occurs, because there is a probability of having a child affected by the disease. When both parents are carriers, this probability during each pregnancy is 25% (in other words, 1 in 4).
In these cases, one can carry out a genetic screening of the embryos (Preimplantation Genetic Testing for aneuploidy known as PGT-A), to see which embryos are unaffected and as a result, can be transferred to the patient.