The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology on Monday began allowing infertile couples involving women who are 35 and older to undergo preimplantation genetic testing.
Eligibility for the procedure was previously limited to those who could not get pregnant even after multiple embryo transfers following in vitro fertilization or those who experienced repeated miscarriages and stillbirths.
In preimplantation genetic testing, cells are collected from an embryo to check the number of chromosomes. An embryo with no chromosomal abnormalities is then selected and transferred to the uterus.
The group also said it approved 110 out of 124 applications for preimplantation genetic diagnosis procedures, in which fertilized eggs are screened to prevent the transmission of serious genetic diseases, between 2022 and 2024. The scope of the procedure was expanded in 2022 to include diseases that develop in adulthood.