Inconclusive gender result from Harmony test

[Vixivixen]

Does anyone have experience of an inconclusive gender result following the Harmony test or other NIPT - especially if all turned out to be fine.

I have just had mine back and it is low risk for all three trisomies (1/10,000) but the gender came back as inconclusive. I had the test at 11 weeks and this hasn’t happened to me before - I’ve had two previous Harmony tests with the gender result reported, carried out at a similar point in pregnancy.

I’ve done some googling (obviously) and found some laboratory guidance which says that generally this isn’t usually linked to a problem with the baby but in small number of cases could be. My anxiety is through the roof, as I’ve not had the best time getting and staying pregnant and am under the care of the recurrent miscarriage clinic.

I know it isn’t the primary aim of the tests to confirm gender but I could really do without further reasons to worry caused by uncertainty!

Is the Fetal dna percentage low? I had the same issue & was told that was the reason. Did far too much googling myself, not good!!!!!

Thanks @Newmum110 it doesn’t say anything about percentage - just inconclusive. Ultrasound direct were quick to say they weren’t delivering bad news but then dropped this bombshell!

I am going to call the lab directly tomorrow when they open for more insight.

Bump

@Vixivixen @Newmum110 I have the same result and I’m freaking out. Can I check what your outcome was?

@Jugglinghappy I have a perfectly healthy 10 month old :-) My consultant assured me that Harmony tests are known for this. I would never do one again, caused far too much stress. Easier said than done I know but try not to worry too much x

Hello. This was my original thread - seems like so long ago now!. @Jugglinghappy its so hard not to worry isn’t it but it is highly likely to be just a testing anomaly rather than an issue with the baby.

I have a perfectly healthy 9 month old boy now. It didn’t turn out to be anything other than an inability to process an accurate result rather than being to do
with the baby.

Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

Thank you so much for the reply! I really appreciate it. Very little info on this scenario around inconclusive gender, it means a lot for you take the time to share your outcome. I need to step away from google!

Thank you so much @Newmum110 the clinic we’re really rubbish at answering questions, and I was a bit scared to call the lab. The rest of the trisomy results were low risk. My feral fraction was low so I’m sure that’s probably all it was. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with me.

All gender results are inconclusive, because gender is a social construct.

You can sometimes make an educated guess at the SEX of your baby via ultrasound scan, if the genitals are visible, but the only 100% method to determine sex is amino.

@MarvellousMonsters 🥱🙄

Not the time or place to debate feminist issues on gender versus sex, as the OP is pretty distraught.

Seriously?? Time and place for everything and you are out of line

that is ridiculously unhelpful and rather cruel given ops concern

Well CottageGarden, it kinda is relevant. The Harmony test is designed to assess trisomy risk, not sex. And the sooner we all stop saying <gender> when we actually mean sex the less confusion there will be. It's not even a feminist issue, it's just a clarity issue.

Thanks, I’m sure that’s helped the OP dealing with the anxiety concerning the health of her baby.

OP, I hope you’ve been able to get through to the labs and have some more insight. Would they be able to repeat the test?

Why do they call them gender scans or gender reveals then if that's not correct?

Because a sex reveal party sounds like something completely different and I'm pretty sure Sex Scan is a dungeon in Berlin.

But yeah it's just a case of people preferring a more flowery way of describing these things which does seem to wind some people up.

Give it a rest about gender v sex

no-one is disagreeing with you but totally irrelevant and unhelpful in this context

The thing is, sex is an extremely good predictor of gender, so calling it a gender prediction is perfectly reasonable.

well @MarvellousMonsters you can just fuck right off. I started this thread in a state of panic. I had lost my last baby at 17 weeks, and had three previous miscarriages. I was totally focused on the outcome of my pregnancy and not the correctness of sex vs gender. I don’t disagree with you and if I was here for a debate about such matters I am sure we would find ourselves having a sensible discussion and broadly agreeing, but it really isn’t helpful to bring it up here and now.

@Cakecakecheese 😂😂😂😂

@MarvellousMonsters its not about Finding out the gender. I’m worried about the health of my child. I find your comment unhelpful and insensitive. Sometimes an inconclusive result can mean there is a problem and I was seeking experience and insight on this subject. I appreciate all the comments and shared experiences on this thread relevant to the original subject.

As far as I can tell, the Harmony test uses cell free DNA. They should compare the number of copies for some given genes in the target chromosomes.
I don´t know if they run a Y chromosome target, but if they do, it´s quite possible they didn’t detect it, plus the copy number for the X chromosome may be at about 1 and not close enough to 2. That would explain why it´s inconclusive. They may only give results for which they have a high degree of certainly, should be be sued, for example.

Certainty, even.

@toastofthetown they did say I can retest but it probably won’t change the outcome. I think I’m going to leave it for now because the next step would be more invasive to see if there is a sex chromosome issue. I won’t know for sure until birth. So I’m hoping just one of those things. I felt reassured by the feedback from the original posters today. X

@Jugglinghappy it does sound like an issue with the test rather than anything being wrong with the baby. Not great when you have these things done for reassurance though!