PGTA and finding out sex of embryos

[PregnantAtLast]

Hi all,

(Quick trigger warning as I am pregnant so please don't read further if that is hard for you - it's been a 5 year journey so very much not without a huge struggle). I wasn't sure where else to post this other than the infertility forum.

I'm pregnant after an embryo transfer and we had PGTA testing.
I have read that the lab would have known the sex of the embryo before it was even transferred, as part of the PGTA testing.

I was wondering if anyone has had success in finding out the sex of the embryo at an early stage (e.g. when it has just been transferred or when you go for your 6 week scan?)

My clinic has currently said they won't share the info because gender selection is not allowed in the UK, but I feel like it isn't gender selection if I'm pregnant already - it's not like I can say 'Nah I don't fancy a boy/ girl, send it back!' is it??

It just feels a bit unfair that the clinic are holding this info and won't give it to me if I ask... I don't know whether to push back on this and try to get them to share the info, or just leave it and find out at 4/5 months like everyone else.

There are reasons that I'd like to know other than just idle curiosity, but obviously we'll have to wait if we have to!

Thanks for any experiences/ replies! x

I think they have to be very strict as, unfathomable as it sounds when you've gone through ivf for a much wanted child, someone wanting to gender select might stop the pregnancy in its early stages if they find it isn't the sex they wanted. A blanket ban works best to ensure this doesnt happen as well as obviously stopping the selection before pregnancy.

I found out via a private nipt test at 14 weeks so you don't have to wait 4 or 5 months, some blood tests are even earlier though not 100% accurate the earlier it is. Congratulations on your pregnancy :)

Hi, like the previous poster, I found out as I did an NIPT test at 12 weeks. I believe sneak peek will test gender from 6 weeks. Might be worth flagging that when I did my NIPT test at 11 weeks I didn’t have enough fetal dna for them to run the tests so I had to go back 10 days later - apparently common in ivf. I don’t know if that was because they needed the higher fetal dna proportion in my blood for the syndrome tests as opposed to the gender one though. My friend who also did ivf did a sneak peek at 7 weeks which confirmed she was having a little boy. Good luck!

Hiya, I asked my clinic the same question but my consultant said they didn't know the sex and that they aren't given that information during pgta, probably because it's a UK clinic so strict regulations etc

Thanks all. Good point that we probably don't actually have to wait until 4/5 months, and also that they might not actually know (although the PGTA testing is done on site so I suspect that at least the lab must know).

@Imisscoffee2021 That's a really good point about termination if it's not the wanted sex - that would never even cross my mind, but now you say it, I suppose some people might do that. Maybe that's the reason.

You can find out the sex if you do an NIPT test privately. It’s not cheap, about £300-400 depending on where you are, but it’s an in depth blood test to look at down’s and a number of other issues, as well as the sex. We did it at 10 weeks which I think might be the earliest you can find out. Then the test results take a few days (again, depends on the clinic). How far along are you?

I also asked this question and it was a big no no .. they don’t disclose gender of embryos. You can however find out as early as 10 weeks through NIPT