Does anyone of you had the Non Invasive Prenatal Test done for your pregnancy? How was your experience? Were you satisfied with the result? Which test you had and which clinic did you go to? Was it a false negative or false positive? Do you know anyone with a false negative or false positive experience?
Its a lot of questions but would be lovely if some of you can share your experience.
I know its an expensive test and most probably our health insurance is not going to pay for it because of our age. But looking at our family history we want to get it done. And we looked there are so many in the market. We would be super glad if we can get genuine feedback here.
We were getting worried about being good parents in the future. I guess we never knew bringing a child in the world is the most difficult task ever. My respect had grown for every parent who is on the other side of the line already
The first step would be to go to your doctor. They will do more of a risk assessment test as the first step (they look at the ultra sound, parent's age, etc) and then determine if you are a higher risk or not.
If your doctor determines you are at a higher risk, then insurance now HAS to cover the costs of the additional test (if you choose to have it, you do not have to have it). With our first, we were not high risk, now with the second we were and we had the Harmony blood test done. The cost was around 1000chf but was fully covered by our insurance. The results are more than 99% accurate. You can read more about the test here. http://www.ariosadx.com/ . I did the test right at my doctor's office (no need to go to a special clinic as the dr takes blood and sends it in).
The baby is not due until Feb so I can't tell you yet whether the test was accurate in our case.
We are in the exact same situation as you are - considering whether to do the NIPT or not. A week or so ago our doctor determined that we are at low risk and advised us not to spend so much money for such a test (but we still haven't completely ruled out doing it). He said the problem with NIPT is it will still not give us certainty (as you very well know the only certain test is the invasive one).
The doctor said if the risk was low NIPT is very unlikely to bring anything and it costs a lot, if the risk is higher then it's definitely worth doing it.
Actually that's just a marketing thingy.. it's lower than that. Much lower.
I am no longer up to date on testing, but I do remember studying the details of the testing in great detail (my Ex is an md), and her losing even more sleep than I did.
What I can offer is the suggestion that you should get the best advice and testing you can if only to set your mind at ease. In about 14 months you will not believe how precious sleep will have become.
@JagWaugh...its so funny my sister also called up today morning and she also said the same thing
She had a baby last year (though not in Switzerland)
She told me she was just so happy that she was pregnant and was not even reading so much like me about all that on internet. She was very happy during her 9 month pregnancy and now has a healthy baby boy ( touchwood)
I think i should just put all these stress away and just follow each doctor appointment as it goes and not read more into it before time.
My Ob/Gyn also told the same about the non-invasive prenatal test, that it's not as accurate as the invasive one. So we decided to go through the invasive one (I had the CVS). And she made sure that I was handled by a doctor that has a lot of experiences with the test (I had it done at USZ).
Good luck with whatever you and your partner decide. The best is to enjoy the pregnancy
I am an older mom, fell pregnant at 41 and was really worried about genetic issues. Had the free cell dna testing done in February this year through my doctor. Results came back with no chance of genetic disorders (on which my doctor had a smug I told you so moment, as the 12 week tests came back with low probability for downs etc and he felt the extra testing was unnecessary). It set my mind at ease though so would highly recommend it. Our health insurance did not cover even a portion of the test but I believe they now do.
Just wanted to provide an update to this topic in case others are looking for information as I was. I just had a NIPT test (Prendia) now in Jan 2019. I had the choice of the regular test (510CHF) or the expert/deluxe test to examine some additional chromosonal issues (830CHF), so prices seemed to have dropped over the past couple years. Still out of pocket if not 'high risk'. Results took exactly a week.
Hello, it is funny you have just posted an update as i begin the search for the same test in geneva to be done one week from now. Can i ask where you got your done? Thank you
I got it done a La Tour cause that’s where my doctor was who referred the test. If you’re looking for where to get it done I think you need to just talk to your OB since a doctor needs would order it even if it’s “optional”.
Your obgyn should be your primary source, the NIPT test can reveal if your child has any issues like Down Syndrome. If you are not high risk then there's no point in doing it as the doctor suggests but it's more important for the mother to not be stressed. If you feel stressed not knowing then pay and do it, being happy and calm is more important.
As a bonus, the NIPT test shows you the gender of the baby as well. It's around 500-600 chf and takes a week to know, all you do is give some blood the usual way, that's all.
I was 38 when I did it, and it gave us peace of mind. I guess it also depends on what you might do with that information, if it shows abnormalities. Everyone is different, so it's hard to advise.
I'm 3 months pregnant and just took the NIPT today. According to my Doctor my 1st trimester test (ultrasound / blood / age mix) was low risk and NIPT was not needed. Yet, I decided to go for the full test after my best friend back home had a baby with down syndrome (she had the traditional tests and this was not picked up).
My partner and I thought long about whether to go fro NIPT and also which one (standard or advanced). I think it's important to define whether test results would change anything. If the answer is no, I suppose it's best to save the $.
I was a bit shocked when my doctor explained the type of information the NIPT provides. While I find some of the findings quite useful to inform the need for further tests (e.g. 99% of having anomalies 21, 18 or 13), others can create a lot of fear without really having a concrete meaning (e.g. propensity to have intellectual disability, autism, mental disorders). In spite of my poor knowledge of these issues, I know enough as to know that mental disorders are a mix of genetic propensity with socio-environmental factors.
With this in mind, I'm still trying to define how much information I want to get from my doctor and I'd love to hear from someone who went through the testing experience. Did you ask to get all the results, including the more advanced-unclear ones? Did you get any risks identified (e.g. child might have propensity to autism) and if yes how have you managed or are you managing that?
I am not aware of any NIPT test available that tests propensity for autism or mental disorders. These conditions are indeed not 100% genetic and any tests giving a propensity are not evidence-based and thus should not be offered by any serious medical doctor. Who is your doctor? Which company’s test does she use?