Family Balancing allows for parents to determine the sex of their baby if it is important that they add specifically a baby boy or baby girl into their family. Sometimes this is referred to as family balancing or Gender Selection. The gender of an embryo can be determined using Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), although this is usually done to check for genetic abnormalities it can also detect the gender of that embryo.
Choosing to do family balancing or Gender Selection, along with your IVF-ICSI doesn’t affect the duration of your treatment. After your egg collection, if the eggs are successfully fertilized, a biopsy is taken from each embryo and tested through PGD. The healthy embryos of the desired gender are then transferred back to the uterus.
The steps involved in IVF may vary from patient to patient depending on the recommended treatment plan but typically involve:
- 10-12 days of ovarian stimulation with the use of hormone injections. Medication types and doses are monitored with regular scans and blood tests throughout this period.
- On the final day of ovarian stimulation, usually 36 hours prior to your egg collection, an hCG injection will be given in order to mature the eggs.
- Egg collection under sedation or a mild general anaesthetic typically at the same time as sperm collection.
- Insemination or ICSI typically occurs the day of egg collection.
- Embryo transfer is performed 2-5 days after egg collection, depending on the number and quality of the embryos.
- A blood test to determine pregnancy is performed 14 days after egg collection.
Disclaimer: The family balancing service is ONLY permissible in Bourn Hall, Dubai, Al Ain. This service is not available in any other Bourn Hall clinic in the UK or in India.
