Sooo...this is jumping the gun a little, who knows if there is anything wrong with us or not, but I'm just wondering......do they ever do IVF for genetic reasons? Like....maybe they make a bunch of embryos and then test them to see which are healthy and those are the only ones they implant? Can they even test for that stuff?

Obviously I will discuss this with the genetic guys too but I'm just wondering......I am so not ready to give up on the hope of a second baby but now they have me all scared shitless to even try!

Yes, it's called IVF with PGD.

Here is some information:

http://www.fertility-docs.com/PGD.phtml
http://www.ivf-infertility.com/ivf/pgd.php
http://www.advancedfertility.com/preimplantation_genetic_diagnosis.htm

It's definitely worth discussing, but it's important to have a few other things done first, which I believe you said is already in the works - the recurrent loss panel for you, semen analysis for your husband, karyotyping for you and your husband and making sure there are no structural issues contributing (via SHG or HSG, depending). As a for instance - I previously had a friend who had 3 miscarriages in a row. Initially, it was chalked up to her being 35 and bad luck, but when she underwent the panel, they discovered she had MTHFR and a spot on her uterus that was thought to be scar tissue that they decided to remove via laprascopy - and it turned out to be a rather large septum and was eventually indentified as the primary cause of her losses.

So it's a road to consider (keeping in mind that it is even more expensive than regular ivf and often not covered by insurance, even when ivf is, because of the extra expenses of testing and embryologists), but you are definitely a ways from that at this point in time. But this at least will get you started so you can have some questions for the geneticist when you met.

Thanks so much Eliza, that is all really good information to have, and comforting to know that it at least CAN be done.

I will know a lot more about what they are planning after we meet with them (obviously), but my doctor didn't mention any structural tests. I'll be sure to ask about that. They are definitely going to be karyotyping us, and they do want to do the recurrent loss panel on me, although my doctor says that "technically" I don't qualify as recurrent loss, because our second loss was a termination due to a severe birth defect. Whatever, I told her if it's just bloodwork, I want it done.

I tend to think a mutation in my MTHFR gene is a real possibility, and would help explain some of my family history. No history of any clotting problems though, in any family member or with any of my pregnancies, so the doc says probably not. I'm sure they'll test for it though.

Thanks so much for all of your help and the links, I really appreciate it. xoxoxo

My husband and I lost a child to a recessive genetic disease. We have a 25% chance of having another child with this disease(which is fatal). I am not willing to take the chance of just getting pregnant and hoping for a healthy child. We live in Canada and will travel to the states and spend about 25 grand on IVF with PGD. Maybe in the future I will be able to see more clearly that we have a 75% chance of having a healthy baby, but who is to say that it will not happen again. I don't think right now that I could stand to lose another child.

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