Postnatal genetic screening
The Centre for Medical Genetics (CMG) carries out monitoring of ‘MAR children’. These are children who were born in the BrusselsIVF thanks to medically-assisted reproduction (MAR).
How monitoring takes place
The monitoring of MAR children takes place in two phases:
- The first phase is organised by the BrusselsIVF. During the pregnancy and immediately after the birth you will have sent to you a questionnaire about the course of the pregnancy and the birth and the state of health of your baby respectively.
- In the second phase the CMG will invite you and your partner together with your baby or child for a consultation in the CMG:
- The first time when the baby is two months old
- The second time around the first birthday
- In some techniques, such as PGT and (more recently) egg vitrification, a consultation is also arranged around the second birthday
Since 1984 all children have been examined in the same way and the findings carefully entered in a database. Today we have the data of more than 15,000 children. On the introduction of each new technique the CMG has collected data on 95 to 98% of the children born as a result. Hence the UZ Brussel is one of the absolute world leaders in this field.
Aim of monitoring
This monitoring has three aims:
- It provides information about the comfort of the treatment for the patients. That can help researchers and doctors to refine and improve the techniques.
- Through long-term studies the CMG can study the consequences of MAR treatments on the health of the people who result from the treatment. That extends from the prenatal development of the embryos to the health of the newborn babies to the general medical status of (groups of) MAR adults.
- Thanks to the follow-up consultations, the CMG remains in long-term contact with MAR patients who have also been CMG patients. And that again helps necessary social and psychological information to be acquired so that current and future patients can be helped.