HELP! Where to start if MTHFR testing not available?

[momi]

Hi,

I'll try to make this as concise as possible. I'm 41 years old and 7 weeks pregnant with, hopefully, my first full-term healthy baby. I miscarried at 27 (unsure of cause), and had to terminate my pregnancy at 12 weeks last year due to hydrops fetalis (abnormal accumulation of fluids that deemed my baby "incompatible with life"). While there could be many causes for hydrops (including parvovirus, listeria, etc.), I had read of one mother who had lost two babies to hydrops and was later dx'd with MTHFR.

Since I heard of the mutation, I had switched my prenatal vitamin to two different ones -- one with folate (Garden of Life Whole Food Prenatal Once Daily) and one with Folate L-5-Methylfolate (Raise Them Well Prenatal Vitamins). I didn't think much more of it for months, but now that I am pregnant once again, I'm a lot more invested in trying to prevent another complicated and/or interrupted pregnancy. I'm not sure if I could go through that heartache again.

Because I've had a string of recent migraines (along with a history of depression and fatigue), it got me thinking about all of the enriched foods I had been eating over the past few months, and, naturally, has me a bit worried about my baby's development. I don't eat a lot of processed foods, but I do eat a good deal of rice and bakery-bought bread (both of which are fortified, ugh!).

I live in Cusco, Peru, and I don't have easy access to 23andMe genetic testing, and I'd be surprised to find a doctor familiar with MTHFR mutation here, so I'm taking matters into my own hands. I've called several private laboratories to see if they could test for the mutation, but it's simply not available here. The best they could offer was a homocysteine analysis; I know that it can offer an indication of possible MTHFR mutation, but I'm wondering if there are any other tests that I should request that might give me a more definitive diagnosis. These 'special' tests are rather expensive here in Peru as they have to be sent to the capital city of Lima to be analyzed, but I figure it's worth it for the peace of mind. In the meantime, I'm doing my best to avoid fortified foods and to consume folate-rich real foods.

I was originally planning to have my homocysteine levels checked today, but after discovering MTHFR Living and this forum just yesterday, I figured it would be best to wait and see if anyone had other suggestions for testing. There is some urgency to this, so any quick responses would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

And, thank you, Andrea, for your website. There's so much valuable information! I look forward to navigating through it. I've already directed several women who've had recurrent miscarriages (and don't know the reason behind them) to your site.

[Andrea]

Hi Momi

I am not sure how to direct you here. Could 23 and Me be shipped overseas? Could a family member send you a kit? Otherwise I think acting as if you have the mutation cannot hurt you as all the changes are healthy...good luck and please keep us posted!

[momi]

Hi, Andrea. Thanks for your response. I don't quite trust the Peruvian postal service -- not with something so important anyway. I can wait until my next trip to the U.S. to get tested. I've already been off folic acid vitamin supplements since September 2016, so, whether I have the mutation or not, I'm hoping that what I had been consuming as far as enriched foods go isn't enough to create too much toxicity in my body. Since I posted last week, I found a bakery that uses only unfortified organic flours for their breads, so I think that's another step in the right direction.

[Andrea]

That's exciting to find a bakery like that! Please KUP