Embryo screening test is 'safe'

An embryo screening test called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is safe for the children of singleton pregnancies, Belgian researchers say.

They looked at 581 children born at one Belgian centre over 13 years who had been screened using the PGD technique.

They found that rates of birth defects and deaths were similar to those of children born using other IVF methods.

However, significantly more deaths just after or before the birth were seen in multiple pregnancies following PGD.

The findings come after concerns that the PGD screening technique, which involves removing some of the embryo's cells at an early stage, could lead to problems.

But the researchers, writing in the journal Human Reproduction, found no significant difference in birth defect rates when compared to 2,889 children born using IVF but who did not undergo the screening.

In total, 2.13% of PGD children had birth defects compared with 3.38% of the other children.

The perinatal death rate - the period immediately before and after birth - was also similar at just over 1% for singleton children in both groups.

However, for multiple pregnancies there was a difference. In the PGD group it was 11.73%, whereas among the others it was 2.54%.

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