Psychological implications and acceptability of preimplantation diagnosis

The aim of this study was to ascertain the degree of acceptability of preimplantation diagnosis with blastocentesis in 180 women at risk for β-thalassaemia awaiting chorionic villus sampling (CVS). The women were asked to fill in a questionnaire some days before sampling. All women who had had previous therapeutic abortion found blastocentesis acceptable. Only 30% of women who had not had previous therapeutic abortion chose blastocentesis, whilst 25% of primigravid women opted for blastocentesis. From these preliminary data it seems that obstetric experience is an important factor in the reproductive choice of women at high genetic risk