Roughly half of all IVF embryos have an abnormal number of chromosomes — often the invisible cause of failed implantation and early miscarriage. PGT-A identifies these embryos before transfer.
PGT-A stands for preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy — the screening that used to be called PGS. It examines embryos for an abnormal number of chromosomes. Research shows that around 50% of human preimplantation embryos from IVF have an abnormal chromosome count. Such embryos usually fail to implant, or lead to early miscarriage.
With PGT-A, a few cells are removed from the embryo on day 5 — the blastocyst stage — and tested using the modern NGS method (Next Generation Sequencing). Only chromosomally healthy embryos are transferred.
PGT-A doesn't increase the number of healthy embryos, but it prevents time — and hope — being lost on transfers that are essentially unlikely to succeed. The chance of pregnancy per transfer rises considerably, and the risk of miscarriage falls. International clinics report success rates per transfer with PGT-A selection that are notably above average.
PGT-A costs €350 per embryo tested. The genetic testing is carried out by Mikrogen, a genetic diagnosis centre licensed by the Turkish Ministry of Health. Mikrogen has been doing this work for over twenty years, with sites in Ankara, Istanbul and Baku, and serves clinics inside and outside Turkey.
PGT-A doesn't make the embryos themselves better, but ensures only viable embryos are transferred. That raises the chance per transfer and lowers the risk of miscarriage — you don't lose precious months on transfers with little chance of success.
There's no hard cut-off, but because the proportion of chromosomally abnormal embryos rises sharply from around age 38, PGT-A is especially worth considering from that point. The medical team advises you based on your file.
These are not transferred. You decide, together with the medical team, what happens to these embryos.
No. Sex selection is not permitted under Turkish law. PGT-A is used to identify embryos with an abnormal number of chromosomes, not to choose a boy or a girl. What else Turkish law rules out is set out on the Turkish law page.
Yes. The umbrella term today is PGT, preimplantation genetic testing. What used to be called PGS is now PGT-A: screening for an abnormal number of chromosomes. Where one known hereditary condition in the family is tested for specifically, it is called PGT-M — formerly PGD. Where a structural chromosome abnormality such as a translocation is involved, the test is called PGT-SR.
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