Parents-to-be usually receive the option of prenatal testing for genetic defects and genetic counseling to help decipher the results of these tests. Not all pregnant couples choose to undergo these tests, while some couples consider genetic...
Modern technology allows parents to find out the baby's sex prior to birth. A baby's sex is defined as the 'biological and physiological characteristics' that define a girl or boy, according to the World Health Organization. Most commonly, you can...
CVS stands for chorionic villus sampling, which is a tissue test performed to detect and diagnose birth defects in unborn fetuses. If you're pregnant, your doctor might recommend a CVS if you have certain risk factors. Some potentially serious...
Amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) are two types of invasive tests administered to pregnant woman to gain information about the health of the fetus. These tests could potentially harm the fetus or jeopardize the pregnancy, so...
Parents once had to rely exclusively upon old wives tales regarding the size and shape of a mom-to-be's belly or her degree of morning sickness to give them clues to their unborn baby's gender. Modern science allows many parents to find out the...
Genetic diseases are caused by defects in genes, segments of DNA that govern specific characteristics in a person. Common genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington's disease aren't always inherited, but may occur as a spontaneous...
Every pregnancy has a risk that the fetus carries a serious genetic defect. Doctors have developed ways to calculate the risk of a serious chromosomal abnormality fairly early in pregnancy. In the first trimester, nuchal translucency, or the...
Imagine a time when the health of your child was a complete mystery until the day of delivery. Amniocentesis was first developed in the late 1950s as a way of determining the sex of a child but was not used until the 1970s for the diagnosis of...
An omphalocele is a defect in the abdominal wall that allows the internal organs to protrude into the umbilical cord, sometimes covered by a membranous sac. If your child has an omphalocele, it will probably be diagnosed during a prenatal...
A positive pregnancy test sends many women through a flurry of emotions and questions, including the gender of the baby. While some couples wait until the baby is born, many others prefer to find out the baby's gender before the birth. Methods of...
Down syndrome, a genetic defect that is beyond the control of the parent, occurs when there is an extra copy of the 21st chromosome in all or some of the cells in your body. Chromosomes are structures made from your unique DNA or genetic...
If you are pregnant, one of the questions you likely hear the most from friends, family or co-workers is whether your baby is a boy or a girl. In the past, you could not find out your baby's gender until birth. Today, however, there are various...
DNA testing is a common procedure used to identify individuals based off of what is present in their DNA code. Although 99.9 percent of DNA is shared between all human beings, the remaining 0.1 percent is what makes us individual from one another....
When prenatal screening identifies features of a genetic syndrome or there is a family history of genetic disease, a woman's health care provider may suggest prenatal genetic testing. Highly accurate, prenatal genetic testing can diagnose a baby's...
When prenatal screening identifies features of a genetic syndrome or there is a family history of genetic disease, a woman's health care provider may suggest prenatal genetic testing. Baby's DNA, obtained by chorionic villus sampling--commonly...
Parents often want reassurance that their child is normal before birth. Sometimes, they have specific concerns about genetic diseases that run in their families or that are related to advanced maternal age, such as Down syndrome. Fetal genetic...
It is possible to test a baby's DNA before birth. Known as prenatal genetic testing, this is generally performed when there is a family history of a genetic syndrome or features of a genetic syndrome have been during the pregnancy. Prenatal...
Huntington's disease is a genetic condition that passes down through a family line. It's caused by a mutation in a specific gene, known as the Huntington's disease gene, which appears on chromosome number four of your DNA. If one of your parents...
Menopause is defined as the day 12 consecutive months after your last menstrual period. But the period of time when estrogen and progesterone production declines and menstrual periods become irregular, called perimenopause, can begin by age 45...
If you're pregnant, prenatal testing may seem like a positive thing, a way to check your baby's health and find out whether you're having a boy or girl. While 97 percent of all prenatal tests deliver good news, according to the University of...
