Waterstone Clinic Offers Embryo Screening for Cystic Fibrosis

Irish couples at risk of having a child with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Ireland’s most common genetic disease, will no longer have to travel abroad to avail of Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) treatment.

Waterstone Clinic has been licensed by The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) to carry out embryo biopsy.

All new born Irish babies have been screened for Cystic Fibrosis (disease and carrier status) since July 2011. As a consequence, an increasing number of Irish couples are becoming aware that they are at risk of having a baby with CF – because both of them are carriers.

Such couples may pursue Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis in order to avoid the 25% risk that their next baby will be affected. Couples opting for PGD try to achieve a pregnancy through IVF rather than naturally. The embryos generated are ‘biopsied’ and the cells removed are tested genetically in order to identify those free of CF and safe to transfer.

http://www.thejournal.ie/clinic-genetic-disorder-667931-Nov2012/