# UK ladies are you going for Harmony test?



## LuckyFlutter

I'm considering going for the Harmony test as an older mum (just!) at 35.

Wondering how many of you are going for this? and I don't suppose it tends to be covered under medical insurance.


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## DJ79

I'm 36 (just) and only had normal screening offered. I had a friend who had harmony test - it cost a fortune and wasn't covered by insurance. All insurances are different though!


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## Heidipie77

Hi!

I had the Verifi test done here in the UK. We had to go private and pay for it. The blood sample got sent to California and took 8 days to come back. I had it done at the Catherine medical centre in Liverpool women's hospital.
Decided on this for peace of mind as I had just turned 37, although my nhs testing on bloods and nuchal fold came back 1:2600 risk for downs.


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## LuckyFlutter

Heidipie77 said:


> Hi!
> 
> I had the Verifi test done here in the UK. We had to go private and pay for it. The blood sample got sent to California and took 8 days to come back. I had it done at the Catherine medical centre in Liverpool women's hospital.
> Decided on this for peace of mind as I had just turned 37, although my nhs testing on bloods and nuchal fold came back 1:2600 risk for downs.

Did your results come back good for Verifi also?


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## Heidipie77

Yes,the verifi results all came back negative. They tested for downs, Edwards and patau syndrome and another chromosome disorder which has different names for male/female baby (can't remember the names)


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## Mrs G

Hi
I would've had harmony if my nt results had been bad. I was 35 with dd and didn't bother. This time I'm 40 but used a donor who was 32 so results were really good. I think round here it's about £400, which i would pay if I felt it necessary. Its a much more comprehensive test than the nhs nt. 

Xx


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## LuckyFlutter

Thanks for your replies. I think I will go ahead with it for peace of mind


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## Mrs G

I'd wait and see what your nt is but if you can afford it and it's reassurance then go for it. Good luck. Xx


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## Spudtastic

Hi luckyflutter.
I'm in NZ and have also been considering the harmony test. It cost 1000nzd here which is about £550 (iI'm English). I think the peace of mind will be worth it.


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## Willow01

I had the Harmony test after my NHS result came back 1-130. I'm 35 and needed the reassurance of Harmony test and didn't want to go for amino for further testing that's offered after high risk results. It took 9 days to get the results and thankfully came back low risk. It also tells you the gender, I'm having a girl! I agree maybe wait until you get your NHS results then if you need to go for Harmony, good luck.


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## LuckyFlutter

Thanks everyone. I'm a total worrier so I think I will just go for it. It costs £450 at my local hospital. Also like the idea of knowing the sex early!


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## Twag

I was told about it by my Midwife I turned 35 in April so now classed as an older mum I guess :shrug: but my NT result came back as 1:970 which apparently is low so decided I wouldn't think it costs about £450


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## EmpireBiscuit

I had the Harmony, paid £475 at a private clinic, at 12 weeks.

Had this done before the NHS testing - and if I realised all the NHS were screening for was Downs then I wouldn't have bothered with their old fashioned test at all:wacko:

Anyway Harmony came back great, so I could relax and start to enjoy the pregnancy a bit maybe, NHS results came back a week or so later, they were high risk based solely on my age (NT and bloods fine):shrug:

If anything I'd get the Harmony earlier (though I wanted to wait and make sure the pregnancy was viable first).

I was on a Harmony thread in the Pregnancy after a Loss forum recently, loads of people shared their experiences on there.


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## MrsTB

I'm 40 and I had my 12 scan a few days ago and my NT measurement was normal. Although I've still awaiting my risk ratio to come through in the post from my bloodwork, I'm felt quite reassured by the NT measurement alone. My odds are going to be higher than with my first child just because I'm older but if they come back as less than a 100 then I don't think I will.


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## LuckyFlutter

Thanks everyone for your replies. I've booked in my test when I'm 10+2. Hopefully all comes back good for peace of mind. Will do the usual NT test also.


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## EmpireBiscuit

LuckyFlutter said:


> Thanks everyone for your replies. I've booked in my test when I'm 10+2. Hopefully all comes back good for peace of mind. Will do the usual NT test also.

I'd check with your MW what they are scanning for at the NT, if it's only Downs you could skip the stress of a "high risk" NHS assessment and go purely on the Harmony, which is a lot more advanced and modern than the NHS test.


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## LuckyFlutter

EmpireBiscuit said:


> LuckyFlutter said:
> 
> 
> Thanks everyone for your replies. I've booked in my test when I'm 10+2. Hopefully all comes back good for peace of mind. Will do the usual NT test also.
> 
> I'd check with your MW what they are scanning for at the NT, if it's only Downs you could skip the stress of a "high risk" NHS assessment and go purely on the Harmony, which is a lot more advanced and modern than the NHS test.Click to expand...


She said they will check for some other abnormalities in the scan also - spina bifida, normal brain growth etc. 

I didn't realise they would give you a high-risk due to age even if your bloods and NT were normal. That's crazy!


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## EmpireBiscuit

Depends on your age how highly weighted it will be towards the high end, but yeah even with great NT and bloods I was higher than 1/250 which means you get a letter telling you that you are high risk and inviting you in for appointment to discuss amnio. I'm definitely in the more mature bracket, lol.

When I saw the consultant afterwards, she said they are only checking for Downs, and that my midwife should have told me that (MW mostly went on about breastfeeding, didn't talk about the tests) :dohh:


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## LuckyFlutter

EmpireBiscuit said:


> Depends on your age how highly weighted it will be towards the high end, but yeah even with great NT and bloods I was higher than 1/250 which means you get a letter telling you that you are high risk and inviting you in for appointment to discuss amnio. I'm definitely in the more mature bracket, lol.
> 
> When I saw the consultant afterwards, she said they are only checking for Downs, and that my midwife should have told me that (MW mostly went on about breastfeeding, didn't talk about the tests) :dohh:

That's crazy to invite you to think about amnio when your result is due to age. I hope the NHS adopt Harmony or similar soon.


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## EmpireBiscuit

Totally, because Harmony (and the similar tests like M21 etc) are non invasive, and amnio and CVS are risky.

Anyway, good luck to all you ladies getting your Harmony tests soon, it's a long 2WW wait but well worth it:thumbup:


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## LuckyFlutter

How long did your results take to come through?


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## Peanutt

Can I join you all? I'm in America and had blood drawn for the MaterniT21 test (similar to Harmony) and am in the TWW limbo.

Already I'm driving myself crazy with "what-ifs".


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## EmpireBiscuit

10 days for me - longest 10 days of my life :haha:


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## BunnyN

Not in UK but we did the Harmony test due to large NT with our boy. We had to pay ourselves but I knew I didn't want an amnio. Results were all good. We also found out the gender from it.


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## MrsTB

My risk ratio from my bloods came back as 1:15000 and NT was 1.2. Letter said I was "not in increased risk group" of Downs. So I'm quite satisfied & relieved with that. I know it's only assessment for Downs but I read somewhere that an enlarged NT can be indicative of chromosomal problems including Downs. If money was no object for us then maybe to find out the gender sooner.


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## Cookie1979

I'm 36 and it will depend on my NT results, but if they are ok like they were with my son then no I wouldn't have the Harmony test x


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## JJay

We didn't have the NT test with our first two as I didn't want CVS or amino so decided not to have the chance of months of worry if the NT came back high. Now the harmony test is available I think I'll get NT testing this time and if results come back as high risk I'll go for harmony test. If NT results are ok I don't think I'll bother - I don't want to know the sex as we are staying team yellow.


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## EmpireBiscuit

They will only tell you the sex if you specifically ask them to :winkwink:

I got Harmony first, so the NHS testing results and then finding a Harmony test clininc and waiting on results didn't then cause me weeks of worry.


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## BunnyN

We wanted to stay team yellow and were told by mistake, lol. It was kind of cool knowing so early though.


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## LuckyFlutter

Went for Harmony today. Amazing seeing such a formed baby on the scan. It was so lovely! Now the wait for results. They said lately results were coming back in aroind a week eekk!


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## EmpireBiscuit

Will keep my fingers crossed for you Lucky Flutter!

It's amazing seeing the wriggly little baby onscreen:cloud9:

My experience of the private scan/Harmony was great, the tech really knew what she was doing, took the time to explain stuff to me, and gave me some good quality pictures away with me. Contrast that to the NHS where I got a nasty old woman who was really negative, didn't explain things well and "forgot" to take a decent image:dohh:


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## Peanutt

It's been two weeks and the doctor still doesn't have results!


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## EmpireBiscuit

Has there been public holidays, did they give you a reason for the delay?

You must be in bits :dohh:


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## LuckyFlutter

Really want these next few weeks to whizz by so we can tell everyone! Fingers crossed all is well. Expecting Harmony results next week then got my 12-week scan on 16th.


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## LuckyFlutter

Got my results today. All low risk and we're having a girl :)

Really glad I opted for the test for peace of mind and so enjoyed the scan part. Def worth it if you can afford it in my opinion. 

Got my 12 week scan tomorrow! All feeling very real now.

how is everyone doing?


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## BunnyN

Congrats lucky.

Did you get your results back peanut?


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## Peanutt

BunnyN said:


> Congrats lucky.
> 
> Did you get your results back peanut?


I got them back yesterday (4 weeks later). Positive for Trisomy 18. :cry:


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## abic77

Hey everyone...I'm in the 2ww now and scared to pieces :-(
Had bloods done on 11th June at 10+5 and now just waiting.

Peanut, sorry to hear your results honey. How are you feeling? I'm new back on here after a break but have a good listening ear if you want to chat xx


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## LuckyFlutter

Peanutt said:


> BunnyN said:
> 
> 
> Congrats lucky.
> 
> Did you get your results back peanut?
> 
> 
> I got them back yesterday (4 weeks later). Positive for Trisomy 18. :cry:Click to expand...

I'm so sorry your results turned out that way. It must have been a big shock. I hope you are as well as you can be with the he news x


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## BunnyN

Peanutt said:


> BunnyN said:
> 
> 
> Congrats lucky.
> 
> Did you get your results back peanut?
> 
> 
> I got them back yesterday (4 weeks later). Positive for Trisomy 18. :cry:Click to expand...

So sorry. Have they explained the results to you? A false negative is almost imposible. Im afraid a positive result still has a high chance of being right but there are a certain percentage of false positives. I dont want to create false hope but its important to know the facts. An amnio is more accurate.


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## Peanutt

BunnyN said:


> Peanutt said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BunnyN said:
> 
> 
> Congrats lucky.
> 
> Did you get your results back peanut?
> 
> 
> I got them back yesterday (4 weeks later). Positive for Trisomy 18. :cry:Click to expand...
> 
> So sorry. Have they explained the results to you? A false negative is almost imposible. Im afraid a positive result still has a high chance of being right but there are a certain percentage of false positives. I dont want to create false hope but its important to know the facts. An amnio is more accurate.Click to expand...


I'm having an amnio before we make any decisions. The doctor is concerned because she is measuring a little behind. My TSH level at recheck was 6.9. I'm not sure if that will slow down her growth.
She has a questionable arrhythmia in her heart. He said she was skipping a few beats but at the end he found a strong solid run. So I'm not sure.
I'll have an ultrasound by a perinatologist right before the amnio.

I had a miscarriage prior to her and we've tried for over two years to get her. I'm not sure if I can go through TTC again and all the worry if I get pregnant again considering the history I'm racking up. Which means my dreams of having a child will be over.
So this is incredibly devastating.


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## LuckyFlutter

I'll have my fingers crossed for you on Tuesday Peanut. It must be such a stressful time for you. How long do the amnio results take?


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## mitchnorm

Hi all.....I am trawling the internet for information about the Harmony test....we can afford it...I am 42 so I think it's a no brainer, hubby not so convinced.

Before I go any further....peanut, so sorry to hear your news. Fingers crossed for the amnio x x 

So I just don't think I or my hubby know enough about it, it costs so much. I thought about doing nhs nt and usual bloods at 12 weeks and see what they said....but then it might be nearer 13-14 weeks I get the Harmony...then another 1-2 weeks for the results... that takes me to 16 weeks. Too late to know for sure I think.

How did you find somewhere that did the test? I have just googled


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## Willow01

Mitchnorm I had Harmony and am glad I did, at the 12 week scan they couldn't get an nt measurement so I went private and they gave me a 1-130 chance of downs. Still good odds I know but wanted more confirmation so decided to go for the Harmony test privately. I went with a company called Babybond and it cost £500. You can get the harmony test from 10 weeks I believe. They said it would take up to 2 weeks for results (they send bloods to Arizona) but I got mines back in 9 days, low risk. You can also request gender! I know it is expensive but it does give you peace of mind if you get a good result.
I originally was happy to go with NHS tests but they didn't give me answers due to baby not cooperating at scans and they only give you 2 scans where I am from (Scotland) before they only use the combined screening test (which I think has only around 70% accuracy). Harmony is 99% accurate! I wish I had done this from 10 weeks and skipped the NHS testing. Good luck if you choose to go for it.


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## mitchnorm

Willow01 said:


> Mitchnorm I had Harmony and am glad I did, at the 12 week scan they couldn't get an nt measurement so I went private and they gave me a 1-130 chance of downs. Still good odds I know but wanted more confirmation so decided to go for the Harmony test privately. I went with a company called Babybond and it cost £500. You can get the harmony test from 10 weeks I believe. They said it would take up to 2 weeks for results (they send bloods to Arizona) but I got mines back in 9 days, low risk. You can also request gender! I know it is expensive but it does give you peace of mind if you get a good result.
> I originally was happy to go with NHS tests but they didn't give me answers due to baby not cooperating at scans and they only give you 2 scans where I am from (Scotland) before they only use the combined screening test (which I think has only around 70% accuracy). Harmony is 99% accurate! I wish I had done this from 10 weeks and skipped the NHS testing. Good luck if you choose to go for it.

Thanks Willow. I suppose if I am going to do it I'd want to do sooner rather than later and not wait til after the nhs testing....otherwise it's just on your mind doubt, days ticking by. I need to discuss with hubby more


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## abic77

Peanut-I have everything crossed for you for today honey....praying you get some good news xxx


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## abic77

Mitchnorm-I'm not sure where you are but we went for the Nifty test done through thisismy....they were quite literally brilliant! Very supportive and talked us through our scan in such detail etc.
It cost £430 with a scan or u can do blood test only for £350.
Check out their website as it gives loads of info about the test. I got my results on Sat after the test the previous thurs so only 8 days (from dispatch). You can't put a price on reassurance and if u can afford it I would definitely say to go for it. Good luck honey x


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## mitchnorm

abic77 said:


> Mitchnorm-I'm not sure where you are but we went for the Nifty test done through thisismy....they were quite literally brilliant! Very supportive and talked us through our scan in such detail etc.
> It cost £430 with a scan or u can do blood test only for £350.
> Check out their website as it gives loads of info about the test. I got my results on Sat after the test the previous thurs so only 8 days (from dispatch). You can't put a price on reassurance and if u can afford it I would definitely say to go for it. Good luck honey x

Thanks abic. Will Google that. £350 seems much more acceptable than £400-500 and tbh I'll still have my 12 weeks scan on the nhs where they'll do all the other checks an dmeasures anyway...so it seems a duplication. I can definately justify £350 to get the definitive result....thank you x


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## mitchnorm

abic77 said:


> Mitchnorm-I'm not sure where you are but we went for the Nifty test done through thisismy....they were quite literally brilliant! Very supportive and talked us through our scan in such detail etc.
> It cost £430 with a scan or u can do blood test only for £350.
> Check out their website as it gives loads of info about the test. I got my results on Sat after the test the previous thurs so only 8 days (from dispatch). You can't put a price on reassurance and if u can afford it I would definitely say to go for it. Good luck honey x

Thanks abic. Will Google that. £350 seems much more acceptable than £400-500 and tbh I'll still have my 12 weeks scan on the nhs where they'll do all the other checks an dmeasures anyway...so it seems a duplication. I can definately justify £350 to get the definitive result....thank you x


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## sausages

I am booked in for the panorama test when I'll be ten weeks. They can do it from nine weeks but I'll be on holiday then. I don't think I am going to get the NHS screening because of the high false positive rate. Panorama is over 99% accurate.


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## wyliecat76

Hi did u go for the harmony test


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## mitchnorm

Not me wyliecat.....I lost my baby at 9 weeks unfortunately. Cancelled the test but was all booked up to do it x


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## LuckyFlutter

wyliecat76 said:


> Hi did u go for the harmony test

Yes I went for it. Took full 2 weeks for results to come back all low risk and found out sex too. I found it great for peace of mind. It cost me 450£


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## sausages

I had my test yesterday, so now the wait begins...


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## julesjules100

I had the Harmony test with my toddler a few years back and just had the Panorama test (latest one) done with my current pregnancy. I had it done at 10+4 and the bloody thing was in incomplete result after 2 weeks of waiting. Had it rerun and then get a result after 10 days. Both were £375 with a scan at the place I had them (not covered by insurance) and are more accurate than the nuchal test/scans (although I had that one too). To be fair, I would have still had them if I was under 35 (I'm 39 now). 

Good comparison of the two on page 4 here (both pretty similar really) https://www.theportlandhospital.com/uploads/maternity/harmony_test.pdf


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## ClaireJ23

I had Harmony with this and my last pregnancy. First time was at the Portland, second was the Fetal Medicine Centre (Harley Street). This time cost £400 and included 10 week and 12 week (NT) scans and combined blood tests. We also found out the gender. 

It was worth it for us to have peace of mind. I'm 39, DH is 47.


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## Fezzle

I just got my combined screening tests back and it's 'high risk' (1 in 76). They didn't give me any more information about my results- I know my NT measurement was 1.8/1.9 which looks fine, and I'm 39 years old; I don't know about my blood test results. 

I've got an appointment for the Harmony test next week. I'm already dreading the wait for the results!


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## BunnyN

Fezzle said:


> I just got my combined screening tests back and it's 'high risk' (1 in 76). They didn't give me any more information about my results- I know my NT measurement was 1.8/1.9 which looks fine, and I'm 39 years old; I don't know about my blood test results.
> 
> I've got an appointment for the Harmony test next week. I'm already dreading the wait for the results!

Try to think of it as a 75 in 76 chance of every thing being fine, that helped me.


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## Fezzle

Thanks!


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## LuckyFlutter

Fezzle said:


> I just got my combined screening tests back and it's 'high risk' (1 in 76). They didn't give me any more information about my results- I know my NT measurement was 1.8/1.9 which looks fine, and I'm 39 years old; I don't know about my blood test results.
> 
> I've got an appointment for the Harmony test next week. I'm already dreading the wait for the results!


I wonder how much weight they put on your 'over 35' age. If they have weighted it highly then those results may be nonsense. Your nuchal seemed good.


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## Spudtastic

Hi Fezzle - I followed this thread when I was thinking about the Harmony test. Your nuchal sounds very good. Mine was 1.7 so very similar. I'm sure everything will be ok but it is a worrying time. BIg hugs.

Mitchnorm - I'm really sorry for your loss. Big hugs x x x


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## Fezzle

Just an update- we got our Harmony test results and all are low risk. Such a relief! If I have another pregnancy, I'm going to skip the combined screening test and go right to the Harmony test first, as it seems like age can really affect 'false positives' (high risk) with the combined screening, and I'll be even older then.


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