Study Raises Questions About Popular Genetic Test for ‘Abnormal’ Embryos

When they began their first two rounds of in vitro fertilization in 2015, Anna Dahlquist and her husband, Brian, took a common genetic test to determine the condition of the embryos they had created. The results were devastating: All 13 were “abnormal.”

The embryos sat frozen at their fertility clinic in Seattle for six years as the couple underwent round after grueling round of unsuccessful I.V.F. After three years, they had a healthy daughter, using an embryo that they had decided not to test.

Then, last year, they went to a new clinic — one that has questioned the reliability of the popular genetic test they took. The clinic implanted a round of the couple’s irregular embryos — two embryos with one chromosomal error and one with two errors. Last month, Ms. Dahlquist gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

“I was 39 when I made his embryo,” Ms. Dahlquist said. “And I was 46 when I became pregnant with him. That’s a long time and a lot of valuable years in both my child’s upbringing and my life.”

The...