Genetic Testing or No Testing

[Mochica]

Ladies, I know many of you have had D&Cs after miscarriages and I'm hoping to learn from your experience. Any insight is appreciated -- please do not think it out of bounds to give me your personal opinions on that it is you think I should do in this case.

The background is that I'm dealing with a pending miscarriage. The baby stopped growing at 6w and a few days -- though I'm at 8w. This is my second miscarriage :( ... the period of time between the two is 11 months. The first miscarriage also showed that the development stopped at 6w and a few days and I was at 7w. I'm not sure if this is a coincidence.

I am 40 years of age. I have never had a baby. I have endometriosis. I have one ovary and one tube due to an ovarian cyst at birth that had the doctors remove the other ovary and tube. I know I have a cyst on my only ovary. I have melasma and bad acne since I started taking prenatals. I believe I may have the MTHFR gene.

With this pregnancy no longer viable, I asked my doctor is a D&C was in order. He believed it is not. I then asked told him that I'd read a story online where a woman collected the resulting tissue in a clean container and brought it in for testing. He understood my wanting to learn something that could benefit my trying to conceive in the future. So he told me to make sure my insurance covered it and to look up a lab in Chicago (www.millenova.com.) He said that there's a 50% chance that the test will come back saying "chromosomal abnormality" and we'll learn nothing. But a part of me is wondering about the other 50% of information. He said that at my age, sustaining a pregnancy was a game of numbers ... the more times I get pregnant, the more chances I have that one will stick. (However history tells me that it takes me awhile to conceive.)

He's a good doctor in that he's attentive and smart. I do not believe his equipment to be that up-to-date (I live in a smaller community) because he couldn't give me a heartbeat rate with his equipment. So I'm feeling a bit like I may have to follow my own initiative in finding out more is I want to know more. Then again, I do not want to run down every rabbit hole b/c I know how taxing, expensive and frustrating that can be. I'm trying to choose my battles wisely.

[adgal]

I opted to have the tissue tested both times I had a D&C.  Unfortunately in my case it did not produce any answers at all.  It didn't even come back with a chromonsonal abnormality, although that does not necessarily mean there wasn't one.  

Monica, having a few at 40 is quite common.  Many of us have traveled that road.  I had every type of testing you can imagine, including genetic compatibility testing between DH and I.  Today I am happy I did not give up as things seem to be going well, however I will admit it took a toll on me. I wish I had gone to our local fertility clinic to see an RE and perhaps I could have saved myself some heartache.  Sadly, many of the options are not quite as available in Canada (donor eggs are ridiculously challenging to do for example).  If I were in your shoes I would consult a specialist now. There is still time, but it may save you some stress, particularly if it is a bit more difficult to get pregnant due to the one ovary and tube.  I wish you well my friend, and am glad to see you are planning your next move.  It always helps so much with the recovery process.  Amanda

[ita17]

None of my 3 were the same either.  First one began to bleed, got check out & heart beat looked good I was 6.5 weeks, next day I just knew the bb died, went back in & it did :( MC'd on my own easily.
2nd, was alighted Ovum @ 7 weeks, again on my own.
3rd was the toughest.  had a missed mc @ 11 weeks, bb stopped growing @ 9 weeks.  Heart beat looked great! Numbers at first looked really good, but after 7 weks, bb was struggling to grow.  I had a DnC & all tests including b/w came back perfect.
I think this mc was a result of me flying for over 22 hours overseas between weeks 5.5 & 7.  Thats not proven, but its what I feel happened.

If you don't HAVE to have a DnC I wouldn't, but if you REALLY want the tissue tested then do.  The only bummer is that it takes up to 2 months to get the results :(  Thats a long time to wait & think about it.
I'm sorry your going thru this right now, I know how hard it is.

[usuk]

I had a MC at 14 weeks and they were sure it was a chromosomal abnormality. But it was not. I'll never know why I lost that one. I had all the blood tests and scans and DH had his tests too. My 2nd MC I was at home around 8-9 weeks and did not save the tissue. The third MC I never had a HB at 7 weeks so it was probably chromosomal. I would say get tested. None of my MCs have anything in common but you might. Good luck and keep trying.

[prevatt77]

I had 4 miscarriage and 1 ectopic pregnancy.  I choose to have 3 of my pregancies tested and had the D&C.  All three on mine came back saying they were chromosome abnormality.  After my 4th loss I started to see an RE, he told me that it was just bad luck and if I kept trying I would get a healthy mature egg and it waould stick and I would more then likely carry full term.  I was 41 at the birth of my son and he will be 7 months tomorrow and he is perfectly healthy.  I will tell you the same thing I tell every woman on here going through the same thing you're going through.  Follow your dream, because it will happen and you will be blessed with a baby.  Don't give up, keep trying and believe and it will happen for you - trust me.

Debbie

[have 2 kids]

I definately think it is worth having the tissue tested.   Good luck.