Today the flood of IVF and infertility all came back to me. It was about model/actress Chrissy Teigen and her decision to have her embryos genetically tested.
I read an article that stated “Teigen shows utterly no self-awareness about how shocking it is that she feels comfortable confessing to having pawed through (of letting a lab tech paw for her) cryogenically frozen test tubes containing her own children, selecting one that most pleases her and letting the rest languish indefinitely. She must be used to getting whatever she wants, fast, and not having to think through the consequences. No surprise—she’s a celebrity, after all.” .
I went through infertility and ultimately IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) in July 2009. I know a thing or two about dealing with infertility and the long, treacherous process of actually ending up pregnant and ultimately a mother. I am going to let you in on a little secret…
Every woman who goes through IVF has the option of genetically testing the viable embryos.
Shocker I know.
I DID have the option to choose my embryos based on genetic results. Results such as birth defects, gender, and yes I could have even found out the general eye color. I chose not to because the cost was too great for me. After all, I had just spent $35000 on treatments. I was out of money and willing to take my chances. Based on my age I had the gamble of birth defects (thankfully there were none). But if I had the money to, I would have done it. I would have done it in a heartbeat.
There is also this term many who haven’t gone through the process called “viability”, which basically means “which embryo is the the strongest?”. The reproductive endocrinologist WILL choose the top embryos as far as viability and give you the option of freezing any that aren’t placed back into the womb. Most will choose to freeze them but some don’t. There’s a lifetime of fees associated with it and a lot of legal red tape.
When I did IVF I had 20 eggs retrieved, 16 of those when to the fertilization process, 12 ended up fertilizing, 8 made it to the 3-day “blast” stage, and 6 made it to the 5 day “ready to go mark”. 2 had a viability of over 90%, two were over 85%, and the final two had a viability rating of 70%. You better believe my choices were #1 and #2, which then resulted in my now 6 year old twins.
Those who CAN afford to do the testing and choose the one they wish? More power to them. Including Chrissy Teigen. Not only celebs get the option.
Please. If you don’t know what you are talking about, then read up before jumping to conclusions.
