A new study has found that embryos found to be abnormal through preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy can still lead to healthy babies, the New York Times reports.
A team from the Center for Human Reproduction in New York analyzed the outcomes for 50 patients who underwent 57 transfer cycles of 141 embryos. All the embryos had previously been diagnosed through PGT-A and other clinics declined to transfer them, the researchers note. As they report in the journal Human Reproduction, the team found their transfer of these embryos led to eight live births, 11 miscarriages, and no voluntary terminations. For one pregnancy, a heart defect was found in utero and repaired after birth, though the Times notes that the connection between the PGT-A finding and the birth defect is unclear.
"The point of PGT was to select embryos that would give somebody a better chance of achieving pregnancy," study co-author David Barad from the Center for Human Reproduction tells the Times.
It adds that he and his colleagues further argue potentially viable embryos are being discarded based on a test that is being taken as definitive when it may not be as clear cut.
The Times also reports, though, that the study underscores the limitations of the approach, as Laura Hercher from Sarah Lawrence College's genetic counseling program tells it that the study reports a high number of miscarriages.