“Every couple looking for a child wonders about the risk that the baby might inherit a genetic disease or a chromosomal issue. Reproduction entails the risk that the baby might carry an anomaly. It is known as the ‘species risk’ and in humans is relatively low, around 1-2%. However, some couples have a much higher risk since they are carriers of genetic anomalies, such as cystic fibrosis or beta thalassemia, or chromosomal structural alteration like translocations. These couples have a much higher risk of obtaining embryos affected by a disease or syndrome”.
Can fertile couples carrier of genetic conditions access IVF treatments?
“The italian Constitutional Court recently stated that couples with high genetic risk, regardless of their fertility status, can access preimplantation genetic diagnosis through medically assisted reproduction. It means that these couples can chose to have a very early diagnosis on the embryo, even before a pregnancy is established. Medically assisted reproduction procedure is therefore exploited to identify embryos not affected by the disease”.
