Comments on: Daily Buzz: IVF tests screen more than ever. But should they?

By: Leonie

Leonie — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:16:22 +0000

And this is exactly why car insurance is a lot higher for under 25′s!!

By: Silverdragon

Silverdragon — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:14:14 +0000

All the best, romy – I hope you have success with the PGS!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:59:24 +0000

I think there is a big difference between choosing not have a serious disability and having a certain IQ or hair colour – it’s not that much of a slippery slope. People already terminate for disabilities – this would just prevent the need for that in couples undergoing IVF.

By: guest

guest — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:29:32 +0000

I think you have completely missed the point with your question regarding IVF Mamamia. Obviously you have never suffered the agonising journey of infertility and your also ignorant to the suffering of people in this area and the complete ineffectiveness of IVF as a solution for infertility. The motivation behind Monash Uni’s breakthrough was not to stamp out various genetic problems but to assist people with infertility. Massive, massive, huge difference.
The debate should be about why this technology is so expensive and limited to Victoria and what can be done to remove the barriers to infertile couples who are decent people who would make wonderful mums and dads out there.

By: poppy

poppy — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:34:10 +0000

Wow, this feels so close to me. My boyfriend has a history of bowel cancer in his family (grandfather/father/sister) and as of last year, they isolated the gene and were able to test him for it. Unfortunately, we found out that he is a carrier. The technical name is lynch syndrome, a genetic defect that greatly increases his chances of getting bowel cancer. Currently, he’s sitting at about an 80% chance of getting it at some point. Crap odds.

I was there when we found out, and the genetic counsellor spoke to us about our options for conceiving. Any naturally conceived baby would have a 50/50 chance of being born with lynch syndrome which means, male or female, a lifetime of yearly colonoscopies and a pretty good shot at getting bowel cancer.

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, as discussed above, can now isolate the gene within an embryo and implant only the non-defective gene. It took my partner about .5 seconds to decide that this is what we would do. And so, I give up on my romantic, pre-conceived idea of how you make a baby, and accept that it will now happen in a dish in some sterile lab. That’s ok with me. I never looked at this from a selective gene perspective, or that my partner (or potentially our baby) would ever be ‘less than equal’. I just looked at this as the path we have to go down to get the healthiest possible baby, and as my partner put it, ‘stop this bastard in its tracks’ (the bastard being bowel cancer).

He has watched his pop, dad and sister (diagnosed at 16) go through it and if science has offered us a way to eradicate it, we’re going to take it. Why wouldn’t we?

By: romy

romy — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:11:17 +0000

i agree… when you have gone thru rounds and rounds of ivf including numerous painful miscarriages/// the PGS is a blessing! We are spending thousands of dollars each normal cycle together with massive emotional and physical toll when maybe the embryo was never going to be a success, PGS can help in woking out which if any to transfer back.
For me I am currently looking down the barrel of a PGS cycle….
Wishing us all a year ahead where maybe we get to hold our own baby in our arms… xx

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:17:15 +0000

Who are we saving from “suffering”? The child or the parents? Obviously there are many conditions and disabilities where there is no quality of life and that is an extremely difficult decision to make. However many people who are disabled manage to live very happy, fulfilling lives. Not only that, they can bring so much to the people around them.

My big concern about this selection process is where would it end? At what point should we say enough is enough? Firstly is disabilities. Next it might be if they’ll have an IQ under 100, next it might be if they will be a red head…. where will this selection end?

By: Alice

Alice — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:10:28 +0000

That sounds so hard for your family

My cousin has severe CP and while we all love him, my aunt has spent her life struggling to care for him physically, emotionally and financially, and feels such guilt whenever she’s away from him. He’s now a large 38 year old man and can be very volitile, and she’s an increasingly fragile 70-something year old. I would never, ever wish him away (obviously), but I would absolutely choose to not have a disabled child, if I had that choice.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:09:26 +0000

My brother has Down Syndrome and I honestly cannot imagine my life without him. If there had been testing available at the time, he might have never been born and we never would have been able to meet the most loving, adorable, beautiful person I have ever known. While I understand the need for testing, it seems tragic that so many people will never be born and we will never get to meet them JUST BECAUSE they have a disability.

By: Bring it on!

Bring it on! — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:42:36 +0000

Until you have lived with a disability (I do) you have NO IDEA how hard this world is for those less able (both physically and mentally).

Bring on the testing I say!