When they began their first two rounds of in vitro fertilization in 2015, Anna Dahlquist and her husband, Brian, took a common genetic test to determine the condition of the embryos they had created. The results were devastating: All 13 were “abnormal.”
Then, last year, they went to a new clinic — one that has questioned the reliability of the popular genetic test they took. The clinic implanted a round of the couple’s irregular embryos — two embryos with one chromosomal error and one with two errors. Last month, Ms. Dahlquist gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
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The genetic test, called preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy, or PGT-A, has, over the last two decades, become a standard add-on to already pricey I.V.F. procedures.
But the test, which can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000, has become controversial over the years as studies have cast doubt on whether it increases birthrates from I.V.F. at all.
A growing number of scientists have questioned the widespread use of the test, which leads to tens of thousands of discarded embryos per year and causes many women to believe they may not be able to carry biological children.
