NIPT and egg donation?

[Petree86]

Hiya, has anyone else been told that having the NIPT harmony test is not valid with using a egg donor?

Has anyone gone ahead and had the test anyway when they used a donor?

I just don't know whether I should pay to have the test only for it to be unreliable because I used an egg donor...

[Missl73]

Their (Harmony) website says it’s been validated for use in donor egg pregnancy. With my FET which was own egg I still didn’t have enough fetal DNA in my blood for them to be able to do the test despite 3 attempts but I think that is really rare. My son was fine and is now a happy healthy 2yo but it really freaked me out at the time so just know it’s a possibility but doesn’t mean anything is wrong.

[Petree86 in reply to Missl73]

Thanks Missl73. Its amazing how much we can worry and over analyze every part of this process!

[Marisa32]

This makes no sense to me. They are testing the embryo itself not you. Meaning it shouldn't matter that the egg is not yours. I guess check with the doctor for details.

[Petree86 in reply to Marisa32]

My understanding from what I have read is that some places ask for the age of the donor mother and if its unknown then it can affect the results. But honestly, I agree with you that it still doesn't make sense. I've booked to have the test next week so I will just see what they say x

[Marisa32 in reply to Petree86]

I think the age of the mother is one of the variables in some NHS type test. Either way, if your donor was young. Her risk score regarding age would be low. The NIPT test looks at the embryo itself. I was 42 when they did mine and my age was not a variable in that test.

[Petree86 in reply to Marisa32]

I see. Thanks for the info x

[Daffodil99]

I've just had the test and used a donor egg. They did ask me for age of donor - but didn't mention anything about it not being as accurate so I hope it's ok!

[Petree86 in reply to Daffodil99]

I've booked mine anyway and I'll wait and see but they definitely worried me a bit for perhaps no reason! Hope you're results come back all okay xx

[Daffodil99]

Mine came back this afternoon and was all low risk - so a sigh of relief here. Hope yours are the same x

[Petree86 in reply to Daffodil99]

Thanks hun 🤞🏾

[luckysb]

Hi Petree,

We also had the help from donor eggs and went for the Harmony test - the test checks the fetal DNA which is circulating in your body so the results are valid for our babies.

I wonder if the confusion is with other NIPT tests, NIPT tests with the NHS use an agorithm of age of genetic mother, and measure of nuchal translucency at the scan. They don't directly measure the fetal DNA in the blood. I also hear that this test is less accurate.

We went for both tests, choosing to go for the Harmony test privately because it is more sensitive and can be done at an earlier stage (from 10.5 weeks). It's pretty pricey but the best thing we did, it had unexpected results because not only did the results come back super quickly (5 days) with low probability for the three trisomies we also found out the sex of our baby (we're having a little girl). Finding out that we were having a girl so early on was transformative for me because it had been a tough journey getting here and I still had some background worries about bonding. After we had the result I suddenly felt a weight lift off my shoulders, our baby became her own little person to us and it was just so fantastic to be able to start referring to 'her' and 'she 💚and start planning and imagining what she will be like.

It was also lovely to know how much fetal DNA was circulating in my blood - somehow seeing it on paper just made me feel so connected.

I hope this helps

I wish you all the best with the test xx

[Missl73 in reply to luckysb]

This isn’t quite correct, NIPT is the same as Harmony and looks at fragments of fetal DNA but is not done as standard on the NHS, it’s only offered if the regular screening test (which as you rightly describe is based on an algorithm which includes maternal age, ultrasound findings and other blood results such as PAPP-A) shows higher risk. It can be offered before a more invasive test is offered such as amniocentesis.

It is true that by getting Harmony you are getting a more accurate test, earlier in your pregnancy. I have decided not to do it this pregnancy because I know I will be offered NIPT if my screening shows high risk (or will choose to do it privately if my NHS results concern me). It should be noted it does fail in 3% of cases, with my son a FET there wasn’t enough fetal DNA in my blood to perform the test even after 3 attempts and I was so worried but my NHS screening was low risk and my son is now 2 and totally fine.

[luckysb in reply to Missl73]

I'm so pleased your result came back low risk - its such a relief after a long journey...

Oh yes, I maybe didn't word my response very well, we had the Harmony (privately) and the screening with the NHS. I see that some NHS Trusts are now offering a NIPT - I think St Georges in South London offers SAFE which is a good step forwards.

We opted to go for the Harmony first because we had an early scan at a lovely private clinic and they told us there it was more accurate and we were a little impatient and wanted to know everything was OK a little earlier than our scheduled appointment with the NHS (and longer wait for results).

The clinic that did the Harmony suggested we still have the NHS screening because they measure slightly different things as you've mentioned.I felt a little bad about using resource but now I'm glad we had the double check - as you say it's quite worrying waiting for results especially after a long journey.

I was a little worried too about if we could have the Harmony but the clinic said if there wasn't enough fetal DNA in the blood they would do the test again for free. It was a bit of a trial getting the blood sample that day because of severe pregancy sickness and dehydration but luckily we were over the threshold for getting result

xx

[Missl73 in reply to luckysb]

All good I just wanted to add that NIPT can be available on the NHS if the screening suggests further tests are needed because not everyone can afford the Harmony as it’s expensive 😊 phescreening.blog.gov.uk/20...

glad to hear your results all came back low risk it’s such a relief xx

[luckysb in reply to Missl73]

Oh yes, that's a very good point - thank you for adding it.

I lost perspective on costs along the way - we had to pay for all our fertility treatment (three rounds), so in the end it feels like monopoly money! (add it to the next loan - eek!) 🤣But it is so so worth it in the end! 🥰 xx

[Petree86 in reply to luckysb]

Thank you hun x i was told that the panorama test can't be done with donor eggs which isn't the same as the harmony test which can be done. Honestly I didn't bother ask the difference, I just booked the harmony test and had it done last week. It was a relief to hear the heartbeat again and I'm just waiting for the results! I also can't wait to see the sex of the baby 🥰

[Purpledoggy in reply to Petree86]

Panorama is fine for singleton donor, just not twin donor xx