Why Orchid is different than other genetic tests

Here we showcase some of Orchid’s unique capabilities — covering what’s in the report, what you can do with the information you get, and how it all works.

1. Protect your family from diseases that are most likely to impact your child’s health — not just the rare events

Most genetic tests focus on rare genetic disorders that only impact about 1% of the population.

At Orchid, we asked the question: if parents today genetically screen for the very rare events with a 1 in 1,000 or even 1 in a million chance of happening, why should prospective parents not also have a way to better protect their future children from the much more common chronic, debilitating conditions like cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s?

For the first time ever, our Couple Report tells you if your future child is expected to have an elevated or normal genetic risk to 10 top chronic diseases, based on you and your partner’s DNA.

2. Know genetic risks ahead of time to actually do something about your results

So why would you want to know this information?

Being a parent and bringing a child into this world is hard enough as is. There are endless unknowns and uncertainties — many that feel entirely out of our control.

With Orchid, you no longer have to go into this emotionally fraught process blind. You have more clarity and fewer scary unknowns about your future child’s health risks — information that families had no way of knowing before.

Tailor your family’s diet, fitness, and health.

Better prepare for the future through personalized insights and increased awareness. Motivate healthy lifestyle changes to offset your own genetic risks by getting active, prioritizing earlier screening, monitoring key biometric data, and fueling with the right foods for you.

Choose to mitigate your future child’s genetic risks through follow-up embryo testing.

If your Couple Report shows that your future child has an increased genetic predisposition to a condition, you have options about how you want to use this information. One option is to choose to lower your future child’s genetic risk through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and follow-up embryo screening. By determining each embryo’s genetic risk for certain conditions, you can elect to prioritize transferring embryos with the lowest genetic risk.

Quantify the genetic component to conditions that run in your family.

If you have a family member with one of the top 10 diseases we screen for, you’re probably wondering how worried should you be about you and your child’s risk for developing that same condition. Now, you can better answer this previously nebulous question: “if a relative has a condition, how likely is it that it will affect me, based on my genetics?”

3. Get all of these previously unanswerable questions answered using only you and your partner’s saliva

There’s no need for blood draws or invasive, scarily-long needles during pregnancy with our Couple Report. We can predict the genetic predispositions you can pass onto your future child using just you and your partner’s saliva.

What that means is that you get this critical information at the earliest stages of family planning possible — even before conception or the birth of your child — so you can know what lies ahead.

Based on the Couple Report, you can better answer the question “if we were to consider embryo screening, by how much can I decrease my future child’s genetic susceptibility to disease?”

4. Sequence 100% of you and your partner’s genome — not just 2% like other tests

High-quality results start with high-quality, comprehensive data.

Orchid uses whole genome sequencing to analyze 100% of you and your partner’s genome — over three billion base pairs of DNA found in humans — to provide the most advanced genetic risk assessment available.

In comparison, most genetic tests only sequence less than 2% of your entire genome, hand-picking specific locations to analyze.

Why we do whole genome sequencing

While identifying single-gene mutations work for rare genetic disorders, the reality of the genetic basis for the vast majority of diseases we care about isn’t so simple. The top chronic diseases we screen for are not controlled by the presence or absence of a single gene mutation.

Instead, quantifying genetic risk for the top chronic diseases can only be done by collectively assessing the whole genetic landscape — looking at many genes and genetic markers across the entire genome for each condition.

That’s why we need to sequence and analyze you and your partner’s entire genome, not just a small fraction of it.

5. Developed, recommended, ordered, and run by reproductive medicine and genetics experts

When it comes to your family’s health and genetic test results, we take the role we play in delivering clinical-grade information to you at this life-altering milestone in your life seriously. That’s why we’ve partnered with world-class experts, value access to 1-1 genetic counseling, and created resource guides on genetics and fertility for all.

Top doctors and scientists helped create our test, and all results are approved by a physician.

We’ve partnered with top reproductive medicine doctors and statistical geneticists to help validate our technology. We are trusted by leading fertility clinics and all results are approved by independent physician review to ensure accuracy.

Get a personalized video walkthrough of your report from a genetics expert.

Your reports come with a personalized video walking you through your results (not some sample report) from a board-certified genetic counselor. You also have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss one-on-one with a genetic counselor about your results.

Explore more from Orchid Guides

Today, advanced preconception genetic testing is now available to couples who want their child to have the best shot of a healthy life. Explore how Orchid helps you conceive with confidence.