And Then There Were Six

When I posted that last update, I wasn't expecting to hear any more news from the Peeps until Sunday, but I got a call this evening from the PGD lab - and we'll be getting another call tomorrow.

They biopsied all seven of our embryos today, and have completed half of the testing.

PGD checks for the 10 most common aneuploidies (wrong number of chromosomes - anything but 2 of each). Today, they looked at five chromosomes - 13, 18, 21 and, um, 2 others that I forget. (Maybe X & Y?)

Six(!) of the embryos checked out okay for those five, and one had 3 copies of chromosome 13*.

Tomorrow, they check these remaining six embryos for five more chromosomes and will call and let us know how that went.

For a little perspective:
According to our lab's website, for women 37+ years old, 50% of all embryos show aneuplody for chromosomes 13, 18, 21 or X/Y.

Of embryos that are normal for those chromosomes, another 12% are aneuploid for chromosomes 1, 16 or 22. (I'm guessing they'll be covered in tomorrow's testing.)

Shrike is about eight weeks shy of her 39th birthday, and less than 14% of the embryos failed the first test; so far all indications are that she's made some pretty decent eggs for an old lady!

*For even more perspective:
I did a bit of research on Trisomy 13. Here's what Dr. Google has to say about it:

"The syndrome involves multiple abnormalities, many of which are not compatible with life. More than 80% of children with trisomy 13 die in the first month."

Shudder.

We knew that it was pretty much a given that some of the embryos would be chromosomally abnormal, and we knew that, without the testing, there was a chance of an abnormal embryo being tranferred - and being born - but actually hearing these results makes that possibility seem a lot more real.

I do feel a little sad for that one that didn't make the cut today but, more so, I am relieved that we found out about it now, and were able to eliminate it from the pool of potential transferees.

My overwhelming feeling is of having dodged a bullet, which is worth way more than the $3500 that we're paying for the PGD.