Natera understands that having children is one of life's most meaningful events. We are honored to play an integral role in the lives of patients using our testing. Below are just a few of the stories some of our families have chosen to share.
“Natera came highly recommended by our fertility specialist at HRC. After multiple, unsuccessful attempts at conception through insemination and then, after becoming pregnant, having been through a painful miscarriage, the PGD testing we did with Natera provided us with great peace of mind as we tried our first IVF cycle- which worked! We are now the proud parents of a beautiful, healthy baby girl.” Jennifer, Natera Patient, California
“We think that the Natera results enabled us to select strong embryos which eventually became our beautiful babies. We had our babies in December 2009. Both are healthy and growing like weeds!”- Cheryl, Natera Patient, California
"La Jolla IVF was one of the first IVF clinics in the world to use Natera’s 24-chromosome aneuploidy screening technology in clinical cases 2 years ago and considers this option more accurate and superior to previous PGD techniques. Natera’s technology is beneficial to all patients, especially patients greater than 35 years of age, patients with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss, or previously failed IVF cycles." - Dr. David Smotrich, Founder and Medical Director, La Jolla IVF
After 3 miscarriages and no successful pregnancies at the age of 35, my husband and I sought the help of a fertility clinic to obtain additional testing and to try and improve our chances of a successful pregnancy. Through that testing, we found out that we were both carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene but no reason was found for the repeated pregnancy losses. So we decided to do IVF with PGD to screen for cystic fibrosis as well as aneuploidy since we didn’t want to risk having any more miscarriages or risk having a child with a fatal disease. We ended up doing IVF twice to get enough embryos for testing, the resulting 7 embryos were tested and only two had the right number of chromosome but one of those two unfortunately was affected with cystic fibrosis. So we transferred the single remaining healthy embryo and it took. Now we have a healthy, beautiful daughter who is peacefully sleeping in her swing as I write this.
“I would highly recommend Natera testing to anyone doing IVF. I had several eggs retrieved, but Natera’s test results showed me only 2 had the possibility of resulting in a successful, healthy pregnancy. The genetic testing gave me a sense of security regarding the health of my unborn son.”- Brenda, Natera Patient, Utah
After losing a baby 20 weeks into our first pregnancy, my husband and I discovered that we are both carriers of alpha thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that compromises the production of hemoglobin. Our unborn child had inherited alpha thalassemia major, or hydrops fetalis, a fatal condition that results in death either before or shortly after birth. We faced a choice: either get pregnant again the old-fashioned way and risk the 25 percent chance of losing another child, or try in vitro fertilization with PGD. We’d do anything to avoid the painful experience of losing a baby, so we opted for PGD, and our fertility specialist recommended that we work with Natera. Because PGD testing for alpha thalassemia is relatively new, and because of the particular challenges of testing for alpha-thalassemia with PGD, we were not sure if a PGD lab would be able to help us. However, much to our delight, Natera was able to successfully develop a PGD test for us and, in the end, the results were better than anyone had anticipated. Of the 10 embryos that were tested, four were determined to be healthy. We were elated. One of the embryos was transferred the following month, and nine months after that our beautiful son, Theo, was born. We are so grateful to Natera for helping us bring this happy, healthy little boy into the world. Not only were we spared the pain of losing another baby, but we’ve ensured that alpha thalassemia won’t be passed on to future generations. - M.&S.V., New York
"The ability to test pregnancy losses preserved in paraffin has been immensely useful for my infertility practice, especially for patients having repeat pregnancy losses. Not only have we gone back in time to de novo test previous losses, but we have also been able to retest cases in which fresh POC samples returned as normal female or maternal cell contamination (MCC) results using traditional cytogenetics karyotyping. This testing has provided valuable results for a number of my patients who previously had no answer for why their losses occurred. This new technology should replace traditional POC cell culture karyotyping in my opinion." - Vincent A. Pellegrini, MD, FACOG, Women's Clinic, Ltd., Reading PA
“My husband and I already had two sons and couldn’t shake the desire to have a third child. We were not getting pregnant after trying for a long time. We didn’t expect that we would be infertile since we had two previous children and conceived naturally. Through testing we learned that we were in fact infertile and that we would not be able to have a third child through any other means than IVF. Due to our ages, (both 39 at the time), we knew that we had only a small hope of creating a healthy embryo that would become a viable pregnancy. I was told that statistically, only 10% of our embryos would be genetically normal and would result in a pregnancy due to our ages. We ended up with 8 embryos and because of the PGD testing at Natera we learned that only one of those embryos had the right number of chromosomes and was “normal”. Our embryologist was able to use that information to determine that it would be the one embryo that she chose to implant. Embryo #2 resulted in the birth of our beautiful daughter! What was amazing to us was when we went through the genetic information for the 8 embryos with the embryologist she showed us the embryos that she would have chosen for implantation without the PGD testing. All but one were genetically abnormal and she would have had no way of knowing. Without this amazing technology, we wouldn’t have our daughter!” – Natera Patient, Colorado
“We chose to do IVF with PGD for gender selection because we wanted to avoid passing on a genetic disease to any male children. On our first try with IVF, we used the traditional FISH technology, which was all that was available to us at the time. Unfortunately, we ended up with no viable embryos because all of the embryos showed abnormalities or unsure results. The FISH technology left us wondering if we subsequently destroyed viable embryos simply because of the high inaccuracy rate for the technology.
We decided to make a second and final attempt at IVF because that was all we would be able to afford, and to use Natera’s 24 chromosome test since our doctor thought it had great potential for us. According to its results, we ended up with two high quality embryos and one marginal embryo. We transferred the two high quality embryos and today have healthy twin baby girls. We know that the success of the technology played a huge role in helping us to create our wonderful family.” – Natera Patient, California
"We have found Natera to be an excellent resource for our patients. They have stepped in for us at the last moment when weather precluded transport of cells to other centers, even though we had not been able to get the parental support piece in place prior to analysis. They have been pleasant, professional and responsive to our questions and to our patient’s questions. We currently utilize their services and will continue to do so." - Dr. Marlane Angle, Laboratory Director, Laurel Fertility Care
“My husband and I wanted to do everything we could to ensure that our child would be healthy. We felt that it was our responsibility to give our child the best start in life that we could. We chose to do pre-implantation genetic diagnosis with Natera for that reason, and could not be happier. They patiently answered all of our many questions and made us feel at ease. Their results were completely accurate and as a result we have a healthy baby boy today. We would use Natera’s services again without the slightest hesitation.” – Natera Patient, California
“I cannot recommend Natera enough. I believe that PGD testing through Natera enabled me to have a healthy baby girl at the age of 42. After three failed IVF attempts without PGD, my husband and I decided to try IVF one last time, but this time with PGD through Natera. In connection with this last IVF attempt, we had several embryos that looked good to the embryologists at our IVF clinic but, through Natera, we learned that only one embryo was likely to be healthy. Using this information, the clinic was able to select this likely healthy embryo for transfer. As a result, we have a beautiful, healthy daughter. If we had not used Natera, it is possible that our one and only healthy embryo might not have been selected for transfer ending our hopes for a baby. We are so grateful to Natera.” – Natera Patient, New York
"Blastocyst biopsy and Natera's 24 Chromosome Aneuploidy Screening offer a cost effective means to reduce the risk of miscarriage and identify embryos with the greatest likelihood of generating a successful pregnancy." - Dr. Mark Perloe, Medical Director, Georgia Reproductive Specialists
“I am very excited to be using Natera’s Parental Support technology at Fertility Specialists Medical Group. The Parental Support technology has allowed our patients who have been struggling with recurrent pregnancy loss or unexplained IVF failure to get a better understanding of their reproductive health. Since introducing the technology at FSMG in January of 2010, we have been able to either identify chromosomally normal embryos that have led to viable pregnancies or determine that all the embryos were chromosomally abnormal. With a greater understanding of their genetic predisposition, couples now have the answers they need to continue to pursue their genetic child, or to pursue other reproductive options such as egg or sperm donation, or to obtain closure.” – Dr. Arlene Morales, Founder and Medical Director, Fertility Specialists Medical Group
"In the next 5-10 years, this type of test will become routine at IVF clinics, but at the moment, it is still cutting edge technology. This test offers at risk couples an additional tool for increasing their chance of pregnancy while minimizing the risk of having a baby with a genetic disorder.” - Dr. Ernest Zeringue, Infertility Specialist and Founder of California IVF: Davis Fertility Center, Inc.
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"Natera's Parental Support technology has been one of the most exciting advancements in IVF/PGD I've seen over the past 10 years. When I have a patient with recurrent pregnancy loss, advanced maternal age, repeat unexplained IVF failure - I consider Natera as an option for helping them reach their goals of having a healthy child. The depth of information that Natera's results provide allows me to help my patients make the most informed decision regarding their treatment.” -Dr. Brian Berger, Specialist in Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology; Director, South Shore Center, Boston IVF
“A remarkable new test now allows scientists to see into the genetic code of the embryo… The hope is that embryo selection will enable higher implantation rates…This is a technology worth watching.” -Dr. Philip Chenette, Founding Partner, Pacific Fertility Center
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