Your pregnancy is a time of great anticipation — and, sometimes, anxiety. You may worry that your child will develop certain congenital disabilities or have genetic diseases. Prenatal testing allows you to learn more about your unborn child’s health. It can also help with planning for when your baby arrives. Understand the risks and benefits of prenatal testing to make informed decisions.

While most children are born healthy, it is essential to understand each prenatal test and its benefits or risks to make an informed decision regarding whether or not to take advantage of these tests during pregnancy. These tests may help you prepare for some of the challenges of raising a special needs child and help you plan for what medical care your child will need upon delivery.

DNA Screenings for Peace of Mind

Verdure Healthcare, one of Asia’s leading fertility specialist consultancies, offers a range of genetic screenings and tests to help couples start their pregnancy journey. The services offered include pre-pregnancy DNA testing, foetal DNA testing, infertility DNA testing and pre-pregnancy cancer genetic testing.

The NiPT (Non-invasive Prenatal Test) is one of the most critical tests for expectant mothers because it can determine whether the foetus has congenital genetic disorders and abnormalities with up to 99 per cent accuracy. This test detects all (23 pairs) of the baby’s chromosomes (gene carriers) and the 84 most frequent genetic illnesses in Asia as early as the ninth week of pregnancy.

According to the American Genetics Institute, if both parents are carriers of a genetic disease, there is a 25% chance that the child will inherit the disease and develop symptoms during their lifetime. There is also a 50% chance that the child will become a carrier of the same genetic disease as their parents and a 25% chance that the child will avoid the disease entirely.

Therefore, Pre-pregnancy DNA Screening is essential for couples trying to conceive to evaluate the likelihood that their future child will inherit a genetic condition. As the test can screen 420 of the most prevalent congenital illness genes in Asia, the results can assist you in determining the optimal reproductive programme. In addition, if you are worried about carrying the cancer gene and passing it on to your future child, the Pre-pregnancy Cancer Genetic Test screens up to 82 cancer genes, allowing you to make early plans for a healthy child.

The Key to Determining Causes of Infertility

Numerous factors contribute to infertility, although it can be hard to pinpoint the underlying cause without quality screening. The good news is that the solution may lie inside our DNA. Here, the Reprogene Infertility Screening is incredibly effective for fast screening for the 13 fertility-related genes (seven in women and six in men) that cause infertility.

Verdure Healthcare is the gold winner in the recent BabyTalk MamaPapa Awards 2022 as the best NiPT and Genetic Counselling Service.

If you want to learn more about genetic screening and how it can help you start your pregnancy with confidence, make an appointment with Adam Hung, Verdure Healthcare’s Harvard Cancer Genetics Specialist

For more information, visit their website and Facebook page.