For couples intending to build a family, infertility can lead to disappointment and grief.
In addition, the costly and time-consuming process as well as low success rates of fertility treatments may push couples to forego treatment altogether.
However, advanced health and fertility screenings may give the needed insight and confidence boost couples need to proceed with fertility treatments, be it in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), artificial insemination (AI), intrauterine insemination (IU), donor eggs, and others.
Advanced screening procedure
Fertility GeneCode is a new screening procedure for Malaysians. With a simple blood extraction, doctors will be able to diagnose the genetic disease that is possibly causing infertility. These include polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in women, Azoospermia in men, or other genetic conditions that cause miscarriages.
“Infertility is not only caused by genetic diseases. Other causes of infertility in women may stem from illnesses such as pelvic inflammatory disease that causes scarring to the reproductive system or even endometriosis. It is vital to pinpoint the reason you are unable to conceive before proper treatment can be administered,” said Dr Navdeep Singh Pannu, Medical Director of TMC Fertility Centre.
This screening procedure is the first step to precision medicine.
Precision medicine is a form of medical care that uses information about your own genes or proteins to prevent or diagnose a disease while giving physicians information that will enable them to select treatment options that have a higher likelihood of being effective following your genetic makeup.
The treatment for infertility can be determined through a personalised pharmacogenetics plan.
By using your extracted blood, a physician can run tests and determine the type of drugs that your genes respond to best and suggest them as an option for treatment. Each fertility treatment plan is thus unique and tailor-made for every individual.
Apart from early detection and a personalised treatment plan, you can opt to undergo an additional carrier screening.
For this, the same blood sample that was extracted can help physicians determine if you are at risk of developing or transmitting over 10,000 genes that may cause genetic diseases or hereditary cancer syndromes to your future children.
Diseases such as thalassemia, cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophies among many others can be detected through the carrier screening.
Navdeep said: “When parents opt to do early screening before conceiving, they can understand their own body and possibly detect any other genetic illness or hereditary illness. This does help families avoid any complicated situation when they proceed to conceive a child.”
The Fertility GeneCode screening procedure would benefit women and men who have a family history of infertility, and experience difficulties in conceiving children.
The screening will also benefit couples planning to have children but would like to know more about their genetic disease carrier status.
Boosting your chances
Fertility GeneCode is a step forward to a more positive outcome for your fertility treatment.
Through this screening procedure, you would be able to expand your options and with guidance from experienced doctors, you can undergo the most suitable treatment curated for you.
This screening procedure is also available for couples who have already undergone their treatment and were not able to achieve the desired outcome. By undertaking this screening procedure, a better treatment can be identified.
This also helps to remove the financial burden of having to take multiple drugs and undergo multiple treatments before finding one that works.
For more information, call +6018-211 1088 / +6016 211 1357 or 03- 8069 9222.