Sunday, March 30, 2014

Genetic Testing- I'm a carrier...

Of course, we hit another challenge on our journey. As part of the fertility center's treatment, they ask you to get genetic testing. Because it is expensive, they first test the woman. If she is a carrier for anything, then they test the male.

It takes about 2 weeks to get the results. I got three missed calls from the fertility center the day they came in so I knew it was probably bad news. I called them back as soon as I could and found out that I'm a carrier of SMA, Spinal Muscular Atrophy. 



This means that my husband has to now get his blood tested before we can move forward. If he is also a carrier, we need to weigh our options and risks including IVF so that they can do egg selection. If he is not a carrier, we are good to go as previously planned. I guess this is the new version of the TWW...

A friend of my friend was pregnant with a child with SMA and lost him after carrying him to term. She was devastated because she did not know her child was at risk. We are thankful that we have this testing opportunity because of our fertility problems. Since it's genetic, it's possible that other family members will want to be tested as well. Perhaps it's a gift in disguise...


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