Embryo testing and treatments for disease

If either you or a family member has a serious genetic condition, you might be worried about one or more of your children inheriting that condition.

In these cases you may be able to have your embryos tested (or screened) during IVF so that only healthy embryos are placed back in the womb, or you can have mitochondrial donation treatment if you have mitochondrial disease.

Your other options could include having one of two tests during pregnancy: a chorionic villus sampling test or an amniocentesis test, which can be used to test for hundreds of genetic conditions. If the tests come back positive you can then consider how you want to proceed with the pregnancy. You can also consider using donated sperm, eggs or embryos in treatment or exploring adoption.

Find out more about screening in pregnancy from the NHS

Treatments for genetic diseases

Your first step should be speaking to your GP about your condition and how to proceed with planning for a baby. You might also want to contact Genetic Alliance, a charity supporting people with genetic conditions.

PGT-A is mostly used in cases where women have had several miscarriages or failed IVF cycles and want to test their embryos for problems which might lead to another failed treatment. It can also be used to check embryos for chromosome problems.

Find out more about PGT-A

PGT-M, previously known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), can be used with IVF to test for over 600 rare genetic conditions, including Cystic Fibrosis and early onset Alzheimer’s. Patients then have the choice of only placing healthy embryos into the womb. Find out more about Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis

Find out more about Pre-implantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders

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Mitochondrial donation treatment may be an option for people who are at risk of passing on a serious mitochondrial disease to their children. Any children would still be the mother’s and father’s biologically but without the mitochondria that cause the disease.

Find out more about Mitochondrial donation

PTT is one of the best available treatments for families where an existing child has a life-limiting blood disorder and they need a donor that cannot be found from a tissue bank or existing relative.

Find out more about Pre-implantation tissue typing

Another option is using a donor in your treatment. You could consider asking a family member if they're not affected by the genetic condition, however, there are restrictions on mixing the eggs and sperm of close relatives.

Find out more about Using a donor

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Only certain clinics offer embryo testing and treatments so you may need to travel for treatment. You can search for clinics that offer embryo testing on our website.

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Some conditions have already been approved for treatment - view the PGT-M and PTT pages for more information. If you have a rare condition however your clinic may need to get it approved first.

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Whether you can access NHS funding depends on a number different of factors, including how serious the condition is and what the likelihood is of a future child inheriting it.

Find out more about Funding

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Thinking through the issues

Having these kinds of treatments isn’t for everyone as in most cases it involves discarding embryos that carry the disease and only placing healthy embryos in the womb. Whilst some people take great comfort from knowing their children won’t suffer from a serious disease, others prefer to let nature take its course. If you have any of these treatments, your clinic will give you counselling to help you think through all the issues however it’s worth exploring other avenues of information and support. The Genetic Alliance represents a network of charities supporting people with different genetic conditions and may be a good place to start.