Beginning a fertility journey sometimes feels like moving\u00a0to a new\u00a0country\u00a0where a totally different language is spoken, and this\u00a0particular language\u00a0is a bit like alphabet soup.\u00a0It is\u00a0hard to keep\u00a0all of\u00a0the letters and words\u00a0straight.\u00a0We are constantly encountering new acronyms relating to fertility, which are all so important to decipher if\u00a0your\u00a0goal is to be an educated patient and advocate for yourself\u00a0regarding\u00a0your treatment choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of these are\u00a0fairly\u00a0easy\u00a0to understand.\u00a0ICSI <\/a>is intracytoplasmic sperm injection\u00a0which\u00a0is another way of fertilizing eggs. PUPO\u00a0is probably my favorite\u00a0and\u00a0it means\u00a0\u2018pregnant until proven otherwise\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0usually refers to the time right after a transfer or insemination. PGT-A\u00a0is pre-implantation genetic screening for aneuploidy.\u00a0It is\u00a0also\u00a0referred to as\u00a0NGS and CCS\u00a0and,\u00a0to be as complicated as possible,\u00a0it used to be called PGS, or pre-implantation genetic screening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PGT-A is a test done on embryos created during the IVF process. It is covered under the Progyny benefit for all members and its goal is to improve the chance of a healthy pregnancy. Because it is a bit complicated and because at Progyny we believe that all patients should be fully educated on their options, we spent a bit of time with Dr. Robin Fogle of Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine<\/a> to understand what PGT-A is and why it\u2019s typically recommended for patients undergoing IVF (in-vitro fertilization).<\/p>\n\n\n\n PGT-A is a process whereby the chromosomal makeup of an embryo is determined prior to it being transferred into a patient’s uterus. The technology has evolved over the years such that incorporation of PGT-A in the treatment of the appropriate patient population has been shown to improve pregnancy and live birth rates after IVF.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n A healthy child results from an embryo comprised of 46 chromosomes.\u00a023\u00a0of these chromosomes come from the egg and the other 23 come from the sperm. As women age, the chromosomal makeup of their remaining eggs deteriorates dramatically such that at the age of 38, half of a woman’s eggs are thought to be chromosomally abnormal, or aneuploid. Unfortunately, the normal or euploid eggs are not preferentially released during attempts at conception nor during the IVF process. In an IVF setting, that means that some proportion of the resulting embryos will be aneuploid and, if used, will result in a failed transfer cycle, a miscarriage, or an ongoing pregnancy of a chromosomally abnormal fetus. It is impossible to determine which embryos are euploid just by examining them under a\u00a0microscope,\u00a0so PGT-A\u00a0is used to accomplish this.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is PGT-A?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n