My negative experience of Panorama NIPT - in the hope that this will help other pregnant ladies avoid stressful situations like mine.
WARNING: This post refers to possibility of genetic abnormalities and refers to possibility of termination. If this offends, please do not read/comment.
Background: at 10 weeks gestation, my consultant said that I was most probably 9 weeks and his recommendation was to avoid testing that early (despite natera's claim that the panorama test obtains results as early as 9 weeks). At 12 weeks my samples were drawn and sent to natera, but the following week I had a "no result" due to "borderline low fetal fraction [5.87%] plus other factors specific to this sample". Those factors were unexplained. I returned at 14 weeks gestation (27 September) for repeat samples to be drawn. On 11 October my doctor called me to advise there was a second "no result", this time due to "low fetal fraction"!
I am now obliged to seek an amnio as a matter of urgency, as in 15-23% of cases such as mine, there is an underlying genetic abnormality. Alternatively .. and what natera fail to tell you, is that there is a significant number of women who get "no result" twice, and they simply don't know why.
The protracted wait has caused me some real issues beyond that of mere anxiety, as at 16 weeks I have developed a noticeable 'bump' and am having to keep finding excuses not to visit my mother, parents-in-law, and other relatives. None of these are aware of the pregnancy, as we have been unable to confirm yet that we will be proceeding with it. There is also the emotional difficulty of physically carrying a foetus that I have begun to feel moving inside me and yet knowing that it would be inadvisable to feel any degree of attachment nor positive expectation concerning it.
These types of issues are precisely what I hoped to avoid by having the panorama test as early as possible. If I had known from the outset that I would be 16 weeks gestation before receiving two panorama "no result", I would never have bothered having, or paying for this very expensive test.
What would I do if I had my time over again? I would have gone with harmony instead - they certainly seem to have a lot less anecdotal feedback regarding delays and 'No Results', and it is difficult to ignore that harmony are the choice of the NHS for rollout next year.
Good luck to all ladies undergoing NIPT testing.