MMC Chromosome results “Trisomy for Chromosome 15”

[Downonthefarm]

Hi,

I had a MMC almost 7 weeks ago and just had genetic testing results back from London lab. My husband and myself now need to go for a blood test to see if we are carriers of any chromosomal errors.

We’ve had 55 eggs collected over 4 fresh cycles - all four ending in miscarriage.

I read up about our result and it says in Trisomy for Chromosome 15 that in about 70% of cases it comes from the male, while about 25% comes from female. I’m petrified, we were recently think of doing donor eggs with husbands sperm. Does this mean donor eggs would be pointless now?

[Downonthefarm]

I always thought our fertility issues were down to the age of my eggs. I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to my husband. Does anyone know what the probability of this being an issue?

[Marisa32]

I'm surprised you went through 4 cycles before anyone suggested karotype/genetic tests on you and your partner. We had to do that prior to starting IVF. Not all problems are due to egg quality, so I would wait on the DE + husband's sperm until his results come back clean. Including sperm DNA fragmentation.

[Downonthefarm in reply to Marisa32]

Hi Marisa32,

I’m guessing you’re not in the UK?

I haven’t heard of them doing genetic testing before you start IVF in this country - maybe because generally your first cycle is covered under NHS and I believe genetic testing is expensive?? And same with going private on your other cycles.

They don’t send you for testing until you’ve had a third miscarriage (again this is done through NHS). I had a D&C on this cycle, others were passed at home, so wouldn’t have been able to send to lab anyway.

I think the only blood test we’ll get next week is to see if either of us are carriers of the gene that causes this particular disorder.

[Marisa32 in reply to Downonthefarm]

Yeah, I'm not UK based. I did IVF in the US and in Slovakia. In both places they wanted to test first before doing IVF. Mainly because IVF takes a toll on our bodies, so they don't want to start until other easily identifiable issues are ruled out. Can you pay for any of these tests privately?

[Downonthefarm in reply to Marisa32]

I’m sure you could pay for them privately. What tests did you have done, where they different in both counties?

[Marisa32 in reply to Downonthefarm]

We did the karotype testing and genetic screening to see if we are carriers of any of the common genetic issues. You only do those tests once in whichever country. These never expire. We also did the DNA fragmentation test in Slovakia and they accepted the results in the US because it was less than a year old.

[hoping2021]

Hey… the chromosomal abnormality may be nothing to do with either of you carrying an abnormality. It may just be down to the egg/ sperm. Hope that makes sense. So the remaining eggs/ embryos might be perfectly fine.

[Downonthefarm in reply to hoping2021]

Hi Hoping2021, thanks. I didn’t realise until I read a bit more that the problem might be nothing to do with either of us.. (Which is what I’m hoping for really, but I’m some ways if it’s me, it’ll make our minds up about donor eggs, so in someways it will get of out of this 7-year stalemate...) thanks

[LuxFleur]

Hi, our daughter also had trisomy 15 and I miscarried. No one said anything to me about it likely coming from my husband. We were both tested for genetic conditions and we were both totally fine. This is just one of those things that happens—most of the time, people don't even know why they have miscarried. I'm so sorry for your loss. It was devastating for us.

[Downonthefarm in reply to LuxFleur]

Hi LuxFleur, so sorry to hear about your miscarriage. When I googled Trisomy 15, Prader-Willi syndrome came up on the NHS website so I immediately went into panic mode worrying that our repeated miscarriages could be coming from my husband. Having since looked it up and done more research I’ve realised that it may well turn out to be just random mistakes being made by the embryos in the early stages. As awful as it sounds, in some ways if I ended up being a carrier of something it would make our minds up for us and help us move on.Xx

[LuxFleur in reply to Downonthefarm]

It's a very hard situation and I'm sorry you're having to go through it. The only potential silver lining is knowing the cause of the miscarriage, which so many never get, and the knowledge that there was nothing you could have done. xo