At North Cyprus IVF, one of the treatment options that we offer is PGD for genetic testing and family balancing purposes.

PGD (Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis) technology improves the likelihood of a successful pregnancy and birth for two distinctly different groups of patients. Couples with infertility related to recurrent miscarriage or unsuccessful IVF cycles and couples who are at risk for passing on inherited genetic disease to their offspring.

PGD genetic diagnosis is performed as a part of an In Vitro Fertilization cycle where multiple eggs are produced, retrieved from the ovaries and fertilized with the husband's sperm in the Embryology Laboratory. IVF is necessary to give us access to the embryo in vitro. At their earliest stage of development, one or two cells are removed from each embryo through a procedure called embryo biopsy. These cells are analyzed in the PGD Laboratory to determine which embryos are free of genetic abnormalities. This sophisticated and technologically advanced testing identifies which embryos are free of abnormalities and more able to achieve the patient's goal of a healthy baby. PGD is used to screen abnormalities in chromosomes X, Y, 13, 18 and 21, which show majority of the defects that cause the common genetic disorders.

Gender (sex) selection IVF is also a growing concept in the field of IVF. Allowing parents to choose the sex of their baby prior to conception has raised a number of debates on the issue, but regardless of what has been said and written on the subject, sex selection has been a way balancing families and eliminating genetic disorders that are associated with X or Y chromosomes.

PGD genetic testing is also an option when families would like to select the gender of their baby for family balancing purposes. The embryo biopsy will not only allow us to select embryos that are free of genetic abnormalities, but will also allow us to determine the sex of the embryos. Once PGD is performed, the chance of having a baby of desired sex is very close to 100% once pregnancy is achieved. This process is also known as gender selection (sex selection) IVF.

PGD works very much like conventional IVF. The only difference is; embryos that are formed in the laboratory are subjected to a biopsy and a series of genetic tests before transferred into the uterus.

New technologies are now allowing some couples to choose the sex of their child before pregnancy. Many couples wish to have a child of a particular sex in order to prevent certain medical illness or to help balance their families and this is known as gender (sex) selection IVF. North Cyprus Fertility Clinic is the only clinic in Cyprus with its own genetics department, which allows performing gender selection IVF treatment in house.

PGD is one of the most successful methods when it comes to gender selection. This is a complex procedure that involves the creation of embryos that are then analyzed for cell structure and DNA. Embryos are created in a laboratory and allowed to divide. After three or four days, one cell from each dividing embryo is removed and analyzed for DNA and genetic material. Once the sex of the embryos are determined, only those embryos of the desired sex are implanted into the mother’s uterus through IVF. PGD is highly successful, giving you a 99% chance of having a child of the desired gender.

Gender Selection IVF works very much like the IVF procedures explained in the “IVF” section under “Our Services”. However, the embryos that are formed using the IVF procedures undergo genetic testing known as PGD before they are transferred into the uterus. Therefore, in gender selection IVF, the five step IVF procedure requires a sixth step, which comes right before the embryo transfer step.

North Cyprus Fertility Clinic offers low cost, high success Gender (sex) selection IVF by using state of the art technology in fertility treatment and a team of experts. Our genetics laboratory employs a biogenetical engineer, a PhD embryologist and a lab assistant. We are the very first IVF clinic with two separate IVF laboratories and its own research center.