Government to fund screening of embryos at genetic risk

The Government will pay for the screening of embryos for couples at high risk of having children with serious genetic disorders.

Within six months, couples whose children would be in danger of disorders such as haemophilia, cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease will be funded through their district health board to have pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, known as PGD.

The procedures cost about $12,000, including in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), and the Government expects to spend nearly $500,000 a year on them.

About 150 cycles of PGD/IVF are expected to be carried out a year, of which 40 would be state-funded, to detect serious inheritable genetic disorders.

"For some couples the chance of serious genetic conditions has meant that becoming parents has been too risky," said Health Minister Pete Hodgson.

"Up until now, these couples have had to get pregnant first and test the developing fetus for disorders later. This causes significant stress.

"By testing first and ensuring that embryos with serious genetic disorders are not implanted, we can make it much easier for these couples to have healthy children."

Already, an Auckland woman who has suffered multiple miscarriages has become pregnant following the use of the technique in New Zealand.

A patient of Fertility Associates in Auckland, she would not have qualified for funding because recurrent miscarriages are not covered.

Overseas, the technology has been used to create designer babies of the "right" sex for purely social reasons - a use of the procedure which is not allowed under New Zealand law.

The process occurs when fertilised embryos each have two cells taken out for PGD testing, and only normal embryos are implanted in the woman's uterus.

PGD can also be used to detect chromosome disorders linked to maternal age, such as Down syndrome, but this will not be state-funded.

Organisation for Rare Disorders executive director John Forman said yesterday the public funding was "a tremendous step forward, which a lot of families have been waiting for for a long time". It put New Zealand ahead of comparable countries.

Because serious genetic disorders were so rare, couples at risk of producing children with one of the disorders did not know of their risk until a child was diagnosed, Mr Forman said.

"Using older technology it was possible to control the incidence by pregnancy termination.

"That was a major dilemma for some.

"They didn't want to go through a pregnancy with a wanted child and face the risk of terminating in order to avoid that condition.

"In this case [with PGD] the ethical dilemma will be substantially reduced."

Anti-abortion groups say discarding an embryo found to contain abnormal cells is ethically the same as abortion.

Right to Life spokesman Ken Orr said: "We're opposed to PGD because it entails discrimination against the human embryo ... because it has a potential for disability."