Yes, you can get carrier screening for Tay-Sachs disease while pregnant. When women are pregnant or taking birth control pills, detection is best using leukocytes. Make sure that the genetics professional ordering your carrier screening knows that you are pregnant so that the correct testing is ordered. The father of the pregnancy can also pursue carrier screening to determine if he is a carrier. If the father is not found to be a carrier, your baby is at very low risk for Tay-Sachs disease. If he is carrier, you can consider doing an amniocentesis or CVS. These are diagnostic tests that will be able to tell you if your current pregnancy is affected with Tay-Sachs disease or is unaffected. Speak with your obstetrician or genetics professional about this testing.

For more information, visit Family Planning.