Should I do genetic testing on embryos?
The short answer
Genetic testing of embryos before transfer, which can reduce the number of transfers needed. Whether it improves your chance of a baby overall is more debated than the brochure suggests.
What to know
- It tests chromosome number, not every genetic condition.
- Benefit is clearest at older maternal age, where more embryos are affected.
- It adds cost, and biopsy carries a small risk to the embryo.
- Mosaic and inconclusive results are common and hard to act on — ask what happens then.
- Ask whether it would change what you do, given your age and number of embryos.
What you can do now
- Ask what it would change for you. At your age, with your number of embryos.
- Know how it's rated. The UK regulator rates PGT-A red: not shown to increase live births. All the add-on ratings.
Read the full explanation
PGT-A (preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy) checks whether an embryo has the normal number of chromosomes before transfer. It's worth a real conversation rather than an automatic yes or no.
What it does
A few cells are taken from the outer layer of a day-5 or day-6 embryo and tested. Embryos are reported as euploid (normal number), aneuploid (abnormal), or sometimes mosaic (a mix). Aneuploid embryos are the most common reason transfers fail and early miscarriages happen.
What it may help with
Choosing which embryo to transfer first, reducing the chance of transferring one that can't succeed, and potentially lowering miscarriage risk per transfer. It's most often discussed for people 35 and over, after recurrent loss, or after repeated failed transfers.
What it doesn't do
It doesn't make embryos better or create more of them; it sorts what exists. It carries a small risk of damaging an embryo, adds cost (often $3,000–6,000 or more), and results for mosaic embryos are still debated. Whether it improves the overall chance of a baby per retrieval, rather than per transfer, is not settled, especially for younger patients.
What to ask
"For someone my age with my numbers, do you expect PGT-A to change our decisions?" "What would you do with a mosaic result?" "What does it cost, including the biopsy and freezing?"
What the research shows
Not rated, deliberately. This page explains how something works rather than claiming a treatment helps, so a rating would mean nothing. Everything traces to the sources below.
Questions for your doctor
Edit any of these before you add it — they're yours. Your list stays in this browser, and you can print a one-page sheet from it.
- Would PGT-A change what we do, given my age and history?
- What happens if we get an inconclusive or mosaic result?
- What does it cost, including the biopsy and freezing?