Next Biosciences is a leading South African biotech company, that offers additional support for each step along the unpredictable path to parenthood.
Although most women expect that falling pregnant will be easy, a recently published review on the prevalence of infertility, suggests that it is in fact a worldwide public health agenda, affecting the personal, social, and economic lives of 10- 15% of couples trying to conceive.1
Secondary infertility (the inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy to term, after a previous successful pregnancy) is estimated to affect 11% of women, and pregnancy loss is estimated to affect up to one in four pregnancies.5
Infertility is regarded as a multidimensional stressor, which contributes to anxiety, depression, relationship dysfunction, and identity problems, long after the initial period of childlessness has passed.
Sadly, many couples endure this unexpected stress alone, without the awareness of underlying biological causality, or knowledge of potential healthcare solutions.
Next Biosciences provides a platform for couples to better understand their fertility risks and to improve their odds of achieving a successful pregnancy through innovative solution-driven tests.
The evaluation of your reproductive Health could dispel common fertility myths
Although fertility is often pigeon-holed as a prospective problem for pregnancies later in life, the aforementioned review, found no significant difference between fertility rates and maternal age greater or less than the age of 35.1
Although substantial medical attention is given to the controllable variables which may impact fertility (such as body weight, smoking, and stress,) the statistics on pregnancy loss before 20 weeks’ gestation, suggest that miscarriage in early pregnancy is often the result of unforeseen genetic abnormalities.3
In the past, genetics may have been regarded as an uncontrollable variable of infertility, beyond the reach of medical intervention. However, Next Biosciences has opened the door for fertility patients (and those affected by familial genetic conditions) to overcome genetic obstacles that may be standing in the way of a healthy pregnancy.
Where to from here?
How to navigate the next steps after an infertility diagnosis or pregnancy loss
While some causes of infertility may be irreversible, many couples are able to achieve a healthy pregnancy when armed with enough information about probable causality and fertility treatment options.
Investigative steps to examine the potential reasons for problems conceiving and pregnancy loss include the following:
- Endometrial Receptivity Testing:
This test identifies the best day to transfer an embryo by measuring the expression of hormone-regulating genes which determine when the endometrium will be most receptive to embryo implantation.4
- Endometrial Microbiome Testing:
This test evaluates the bacterial composition of the uterine lining to determine the presence of microorganisms that are known to positively or negatively impact fertility.
- Preimplantation Genetic Testing:
These tests screen embryos created by IVF for chromosomal abnormalities, to assist fertility doctors in selecting embryos with the correct amount of chromosome material for transfer.
This test examines the tissue from a miscarriage to determine whether the miscarriage was caused by chromosomal abnormalities.
Empower your reproductive journey with science
Infertility is not the only hurdle in the context of family planning. In some cases, couples may be concerned about known genetic disorders within their families, and harbor anxiety about passing them on to their own children.
In other cases, the decision to explore fetal genetic risk may only become relevant after conception.
Luckily, investigative screening can be undertaken at many different stages of the reproductive journey:
This test allows couples to pre-determine their ‘carrier status’ for certain genetic conditions and the associated probability of passing on these genetic conditions to their children.
This test examines the presence of cell-free fetal DNA in the mother’s blood, which is more accurate than ultrasound in the detection of fetal chromosomal defects in early pregnancy.
Triscreen can be performed from 10 weeks’ gestation, and although it is not a diagnostic test, it can be used as a tool to establish the need for diagnostic testing like amniocentesis.
Netcells Stem Cell Banking:
Umbilical cord stem cells banking at the birth of the baby for potential future medical use. If parents are thinking about what they can do to protect, preserve and defend the health of their children in their lifetime, one of the most actionable and easy ways to access that is to store their baby’s stem cells at birth.
While the application of reproductive screening tests cannot guarantee a pregnancy or a healthy baby, it can provide a deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms behind infertility, miscarriage, and chromosomal abnormalities, as well as an authoritative view of the best management options for fertility and prenatal health.
In this way, Next Biosciences facilitates improved psychological coping skills for all patients in the face of unexpected reproductive challenges.
References
- https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/12/3/e057132.full.pdf
- https://share.upmc.com/2021/10/secondary-infertility/
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322634
- Ohara et al, Clinical relevance of a newly developed endometrial receptivity test for patients with recurrent implantation failure in Japan. Reprod Med Biol, 2022
- Wapner et al. (2012) NEJM 367 (23): 2175-2184. 2 Jeve et all. J Hum Reprod Sci. 2014 Jul-Sep; 7(3): 159–16