Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening (PGS)

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

MP for Nee Soon GRC

Question No. 721

To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry can allow any patient regardless of prognosis to participate in the pilot for Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening (PGS) so as to increase the number of patients enrolled under the pilot study.

Answer

          Under the MOH pilot for Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening (PGS), the intended objective is to improve in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) success rates leading to live births for specific groups of women who have an increased risk for embryos with chromosomal abnormalities.  Any woman who fulfills one of the following clinical criteria is eligible for PGS: (i) 35 years and above regardless of prognosis, (ii) suffered two or more recurrent implantation failures, or (iii) experienced two or more pregnancy losses.

2          These eligibility criteria are not set arbitrarily but developed with reference to available international evidence and aligned with clinical practices in overseas assisted reproduction centres.

3          PGS is a technically complex procedure which carries potential risks including damage to the embryos during the biopsy with impact on their subsequent development, and should be reserved for women who fulfil the eligibility criteria to undergo the procedure.