Blastocyst Biopsy with aCGH

What is a blastocyst biopsy with aCGH?

When you're trying to get pregnant, you want to ensure the best possible chance for a healthy, viable pregnancy. For couples using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to become pregnant, mitochondrial DNA activity screening through blastocyst biopsy with aCGH may help increase the likelihood of successful implantation and pregnancy.

Once the biopsy is completed, the sample is examined for a biomarker that helps determine the energy status of an embryo. It does this by measuring the amount of normal mitochondrial DNA found in the embryo. This can help determine which embryos will be most likely to implant in the uterus because the amount of mitochondrial DNA helps indicate the energy level of the embryo.

Your embryos must be frozen in order for to undergo blastocyst biopsy with aCGH. Most of the time, biopsied blastocysts (embryos that have been developed in a lab for five or six days) are frozen and kept for a future transfer to the uterus. An embryo must reach the blastocyst stage in order to undergo mitochondrial DNA activity screening.

This screening enables you to choose the best possible embryo from each harvest to further increase your chances of a successful pregnancy. Because they are frozen, you may choose to wait until you have multiple embryos and have them all biopsied at once, which is more cost effective. One or two of these embryos can then be transferred to the uterus, while the others can be saved for a future attempt, if needed.

Mitochondrial DNA activity screening is done through blastocyst biopsy at the same time as genetic screening that is normally performed on all embryos considered for IVF. That means your embryos do not need to undergo any additional procedures.

Benefits of blastocyst biopsy with aCGH

Along with increasing the likelihood of implantation, choosing blastocyst biopsy with aCGH may have other benefits. For example, knowing which embryos are the most likely to implant means you can choose to select only the most viable embryo for transfer, avoiding the prospect of a pregnancy with multiples. You'll also gain more information about the embryo's health than you would receive through routine genetic screening alone.