Which clinics offer NIPT for foreigners in Tokyo? On a tourist visa you obviously don’t have access to Japan national insurance or healthcare payments. Therefore, it’s important to do some research if you are wanting to do an NIPT test in Tokyo. You may be here on holiday during the time it can be done or you may be here on a long term tourist visa.
What is an NIPT test?
An NIPT test (Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing or Testing for Aneuploidies) is a highly accurate, risk-free blood screening. It analyzes fetal DNA in the mother’s blood. Typically performed from the 10th week of pregnancy, it screens for common chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, and Patau syndrome. It’s not mandatory to do this test but many people do it if they are interested to find out certain abnormalities early on in pregnancy. Particularly for those who may be perceived as higher risk for those abnormalities eg over 40. A lot of people also do this test to find out the gender of their baby early in the pregnancy. However, not all clinics offer the option to find out the gender as part of the NIPT test.
Things to consider when choosing a clinic for NIPT testing in Tokyo
One of the most important things to consider when choosing a clinic for NIPT testing in Tokyo as a foreigner is whether the clinic offers English speaking staff. There are numerous clinics that offer English speaking staff, but this may be limited to a specific doctor and reception staff may not be. The level of English may also be limited. However, we’ve always found that whatever situation we find ourselves in in Japan, almost everyone wants to help as much as possible. A lot of the time, we still rely quite heavily on Google translate which is very useful in most situations. However, with medical stuff, it’s better to have someone you are confident has a good level of English.
Another thing to consider is whether there is a surcharge for being non resident in Japan. A lot of clinics we found charged an additional premium if you do not have a residence card in Japan. This can be up to 3 times more expensive and it’s not always clear. So it’s best to speak to the clinic before your appointment to confirm whether they charge any extra for not having a residence card. Even with a residence card, some clinics still charge extra if it’s the long term sightseeing visa. Thankfully, we found some clinics that didn’t charge any extra.
Other things that were important for us to consider when choosing a clinic for the NIPT test were;
- Ability to book appointments online
- Waiting time for an appointment
- Whether they included gender test as standard (we didn’t want to find out the gender)
- If the price includes genetic counselling (mandatory to do in Japan prior to doing the NIPT)
- How quick you get the results
Clinic Options for NIPT Test in Tokyo
The English Speaking clinics we narrowed it down to in order to do the NIPT test in Tokyo were Kusonoki, Oak Clinic, Hiroo, FMC & Aiiku Clinic.
Kusonoki
Kusonoki is a small clinic in Kita Senju which was convenient. There was no information on price online, but there was an English page and you could book an appointment online with a few days notice. When we arrived, the clinic was very busy. We registered but it took a long time to be seen. The receptionists didn’t speak English and we had to rely on Google translate. I took my height, weight, bood pressure and gave a urine sample and waited to be seen by the doctor.
When I saw the doctor, I was pleasantly surprised that he spoke very good English. He asked basic questions about the pregnancy, last menstrual period etc. He told me that whilst they offered NIPT at the clinic the genetic counselling could not be done in English and as it was a mandatory part of the test, they couldn’t do it for me at the clinic.
However, they did do a transvaginal ultrasound so all was not lost and we got to see the baby properly for the first time (previous ultrasounds were just of the sac). It’s a shame they didn’t mention that NIPT wasn’t available in English on their website. Especially considering they have an English page. However, we did get to do the ultrasound which was nice. Overall, the experience was a bit hectic, the clinic was crowded, and we spent around 3 hours in the clinic. I’m not sure if they charged extra for being non-resident, but the price of the scan was quite a bit higher than at other places we went to after, so it seems like they do charge extra. So it wasn’t a great all round experience and I didn’t go back for any follow ups.
Oak Clinic
Oak Clinic have a few locations, with the most convenient for us being in Ginza. They have English speaking doctors and also an English speaking helpdesk and e-mail contact. The price for NIPT is ¥108,900 but there is also a 50% foreign resident surcharge if you do not have a resident card. The cost of the detailed fetal ultrasound is an additional ¥35,200. If the NIPT comes back positive, they will cover up to ¥150,000 for further amniocentesis testing. Appointments should be booked by phone or e-mail. There wasn’t an option to book an appointment online. You can find out the gender if you want, but it’s not clear if there is an extra cost for this. I believe there may be, but I didn’t confirm this since we weren’t interested to find out.
The clinic were very responsive and English was well spoken. However, as they added the extra cost for being non-resident as well as having a higher cost for the detailed ultrasound, we chose not to proceed with Oak Clinic.
Hiroo Clinic
Hiroo Clinic is well located near to Tokyo Station and they have many other clinic locations within Tokyo. They offer 9 various levels of NIPT testing from only Down’s Syndrome to many different abnormalities. They also offer the option to find out the gender. Each option is a different price. They promote that their results are available within 8 days of the blood draw. You can make an appointment online and you will receive your results via e-mail which is very convenient. Prices start from ¥99,000 for the Down’s Syndrome only test and go up to ¥440,000 for the most comprehensive test. To be honest, we felt that the amount of options available was a bit overwhelming and the website wasn’t great to navigate. It also wasn’t clear if they offered English speaking doctors. So we chose not to go here.
Aiiku Clinic
We chose Aiiku Clinic to do our NIPT test at. Aiiku Hospital is often recommended for foreigners to give birth at in Tokyo. Aiiku Clinic is affiliated with the hospital and does the majority of pre-natal screenings for patients of Aiiku Hospital. The cost at Aiiku ¥105,000. This included the mandatory genetic counselling prior to having the test.
If you do the NIPT test at the clinic, they also offer a discounted rate for an early detailed fetal ultrasound. Usually this costs ¥25,000 but it’s reduced to ¥17,000 for those that do NIPT at the clinic. The early detailed fetal ultrasound is what you probably know as the anomoly scan. Usually this is done at 20 weeks. However, you can do an earlier one from 12 weeks. Which can be peace of mind to detect any early abnormalities. Of course, it can’t pick up everything, but it’s a very good peace of mind at an early stage. We also got a 4D scan at the same time included, which was wonderful.
Aiiku Clinic have an international section, however, we booked the appointment online as standard. We were able to get an appointment for the same day. This was a godsend for us as I am super impatient. You simply add a note to your reservation stating that you would like the genetic counselling to be done in English.
The clinic works with a lab based in Tokyo so they say you will get your results within a week. For impatient people like myself, this was one of the determining factors in choosing Aiiku Clinic. Some clinics want you to wait for 2 weeks+. Aiiku don’t allow you to find out the gender as part of the NIPT. This may be a disadvantage to some, but it didn’t matter to us.
The NIPT Test
The NIPT test is very straightforward. We chose to do it at 10 weeks which was too early to do the detailed fetal ultrasound, so we did that separately. When we arrived at the clinic we registered at the front desk and were given a clinic card with patient number on. We then went upstairs to the 2nd floor waiting room. The doctor we had spoke reasonable English. We also got leaflets in English and there was an English Youtube video to watch before hand. This was more than enough.
We were told that depending on the results we would receive a phone call or ‘letter pack’ in the post. A letter pack is a recorded delivery package from Japan Post. We were told that if the result was positive ie abnormalities were found, then you would get a phone call to discuss the next steps. Otherwise, you would get the letter pack. This was the one bit I didn’t like, as during the wait I did receive a missed call from an unknown number. This gave a lot of anxiety as when I called the clinic back they just said I had to wait. I think they should give a phone call for both outcomes. This would both give you the results quicker, and not have you dying of nerves every time your phone rings.
Once we had done the counselling, we did the test. The test itself is a simple blood test where they draw your blood as they would for any normal blood test. As we were doing the detailed ultrasound at a later date, we were able to do a basic ultrasound. This was really nice as it was an extra chance to see the baby. This was at no extra cost.
Conclusion
Overall, we are very happy with our decision to the the NIPT test at Aiiku Clinic. We felt that the cost was as low as you could get and the clinic was very nice. It had a relaxed atmosphere and was very quiet. There weren’t queues of people. The process was very straightforward, and next day appointments were available. Sometimes you get lucky and they even have same day appointments available. It’s also very easy to book the appointment online.
It was also nice to get a bonus ultrasound included. The fact that you got the detailed ultrasound at a discounted price also made a difference. Plus there were no extra fees because we don’t have a residence card. We did receive the results within a week which was also very good, and thankfully everything was OK. We decided to continue with Aiiku for the rest of our pre natal checks whilst we are in Tokyo.
I would definitely recommend Aiiku Clinic for any foreigner considering to do their NIPT test in Tokyo.
Any questions feel free to leave them in the comments below.
Natalie, David & Wylie x