Fixing the odds in a sometimes-cruel genetic lottery has just become a little easier, cheaper and vastly less time-consuming for Australian couples.
The delivery of two healthy babies last month conceived using a new treatment, karyomapping - which uses DNA fingerprinting to screen embryos where both parents have known recessive genetic disorders such as Huntington disease and cystic fibrosis - marks an Australian first and major advancement in IVF technology.
The implications of the technology mean doctors will have the power to effectively eliminate genetic flaws in certain family trees. 
The babies were remarkably delivered on the same day -   July 15 - despite being conceived three weeks apart and in different cities.
Melbourne couple Victoria and Mike* were the first Australians to use karyomapping,after their first son was born with Congenital Myasthenic syndrome.
"Our first son was affected by this condition, unable to breathe on his own, and died when he was only four weeks old," Victoria said.
"We were unaware of our carrier status for this condition until we lost our son. We desperately wanted children but could not risk passing on this hereditary condition and losing another child."
The couple lived on a knife edge throughout the second pregnancy, that they would have a healthy child at the end of the nine months.
Four week old Benjamin is their living proof, completely unaffected by CMS.
Sydney couple Alex and Jonathan* also used karyomapping to conceive after Alex discovered she carried the BRCA 1 breast and ovarian cancer gene.
Sophie was born three weeks early, coincidently on the same day Benjamin was born.
"Having a family history of breast cancer and receiving the BRCA 1 diagnosis myself I underwent a preventative double mastectomy last year and plan to remove my ovaries, but first we wanted to have a family," Alex said.
"We are thrilled to have been able to use this genetic testing to create a daughter Sophie, who will not be affected by this gene - the curse truly stops here."
The new test is significantly cheaper than the previous incarnation of PGD, with the cost now around $2500 - a reduction in price of about 40 per cent.
The previous test also added about six months to the wait for couples desperate to conceive.
Karyomapping - in best case scenarios - slashes this to about two weeks.
Melbourne IVF medical director Dr Lyndon Hale said about 50 couples were currently accessing karyomapping.
"Knowing that you, your partner or family has a known genetic condition, and wanting to avoid passing this condition on to your child is a real issue for many couples," he said.
"Sadly some couples have endured the loss of a child born with an inherited condition or had family members severely affected.
"This technology is yet another advancement in our long and proud history of IVF and those couples that have already accessed karyomapping genetic testing are looking forward to the birth of healthy babies."
*Surnames have been omitted.
How does it work?
     DNA samples are collected, usually via a simple blood or saliva test, from the couple as well as other family members.   Preliminary testing of these samples allows a unique DNA fingerprint of the faulty gene to be determined.   Analysis of the DNA samples determine whether karyomapping is appropriate.   Then, as part of an IVF cycle, embryos are created and a few cells are removed from each embryo for analysis. After biopsy, all embryos are frozen until doctors receive the results from genetic testing.   All embryos that are suitable will be kept frozen for later transfer.   By comparing the DNA fingerprint of the embryos  to the DNA fingerprint of the family members technicians are able to determine with 98 per cent accuracy, which embryos have inherited the disease and which are free of the disorder.   The results of the genetic testing are available within 10 days of the biopsy being performed.   If there is a genetically normal embryo available this will be transferred back into the female's uterus, vastly improving the odds of a successful pregnancy and a healthy baby.