Month: July 2012

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Conflict Potential Seen in Genetic Counselors

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Genetic testing raises some vexing ethical questions, like whether it will cause unnecessary anxiety or lead to more medical procedures, including abortions.

Now, as the number of tests and the money to be made from them are exploding, another question is being asked by professionals in the field themselves. Is it ethical for genetic counselors, who advise patients on whether to undergo testing, to be paid by the companies that perform the tests?

While it might not always be immediately obvious to patients, some counselors offering them advice in hospitals and doctors’ offices work for the commercial genetic testing companies, not for the hospitals or doctors themselves.

Critics say the arrangement poses a potential conflict of interest, in that the company-employed counselors might have an incentive to recommend more testing than necessary or not to recommend a test offered by a rival laboratory. The practice, they contend, could undermine trust in the profession just as genetic counselors are poised to play a growing role in medicine, helping patients sift through an ever-increasing array of available genetic tests.

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What is Minimal Stimulation IVF?

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Minimal Stimulation IVF differs from traditional IVF in the type and amount of fertility medications used to stimulate the growth of egg follicles.

Traditional IVF uses injections of the hormone FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) to stimulate the growth of multiple eggs which are then harvested from the ovary and fertilized in the laboratory (in-vitro fertilization) before being transferred to the uterus as embryos.

With Mini Stim IVF, a tablet form of fertility medication called clomiphene citrate is taken for 5 days to increase the natural production of FSH in order to recruit multiple egg follicles. Hormonal injections may be used for a few days but at much lower doses than used in traditional IVF.

Although fewer eggs are recruited with Mini Stim IVF, the ones that do grow are believed to be highest in quality. Other benefits include less injections, shorter treatment times and lower cost. Mini Stim IVF is a good alternative for women who respond poorly to traditional hormonal stimulation or have failed traditional IVF.

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Court To Rule If Sperm Donor Can Renege

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Who actually owns sperm donated to a sperm bank – the donor or the woman who paid for the sperm? Can a donor decide to change his mind after receiving payment for his donation? And what is more important, a donor’s right to refuse to be a father against his will, or a women’s right to have children who are biological siblings? The High Court of Justice will have to rule on these complex and sensitive questions in a petition that might affect the lives of thousands of women who use Israeli sperm banks to fulfill their wish to be mothers.

Four sperm vials – enough for eight fertilization treatments – are at the center of a judicial conflict between the donor who wishes to have his sperm donations scrapped and the recipient who purchased the vials and wishes to use them to have several children from the same father. Surprising as it may sound, there are no legal guidelines regarding sperm donations, and the scenario of the donor reneging is not dealt with in forms filled out by the donor and the recipient, nor in the directives of the Health Ministry.

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Menopause and Marketing, Do Women Need Freshening?

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Menopause should mean fewer trips to the feminine hygiene aisle, right?

Not if Kimberly-Clark has its way. The company is about to extend its Poise line of products for women of a certain age. Included: a lubricant for vaginal dryness, cooling towelettes and a roll-on gel for hot flashes, and panty “fresheners” and a “vaginal wash” for vaginal odor — all addressing what the company says are common problems in over-40 women. The line already includes panty liners for women with “light bladder leakage.”

The theme of the marketing campaign: “The Second Talk” — meaning a talk about menopause equivalent to the one young girls get about their periods.

“There’s not a lot of conversation happening about menopause,” a company official tells the Associated Press.

Never mind “Menopause the Musical” or the decade-long debate about hormone therapy for hot flashes. It’s probably true that women don’t do a lot of chatting about vaginal dryness (though lubricants, moisturizers and estrogen products have long been available for that problem). And those cooling towels sound harmless enough (though not as nice as having fewer hot flashes in the first place — something an encouraging new study suggests many women might do by losing weight).

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Growing IVF Loan Business Helps Families Finance Their Fertility

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By Linda Carroll
Jill and Tom Clinton knew they wanted to have kids after they got married in 2006 – and they weren’t getting any younger. So, after a miscarriage, the couple turned to a fertility clinic.

The Clintons’ health insurance policy didn’t cover in vitro fertilization, which averages more than $12,000 per cycle. Nevertheless, the couple dug into their savings to pay for enough IVF cycles to conceive a son they named Harrison.

“We were thrilled,” Jill told Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s chief medical editor.
But the couple knew they wanted a bigger family – and they weren’t sure how many cycles it would take to conceive a little brother or sister for Harrison.

“We knew that we wanted to have more kids, although we had limited funds and we weren’t sure how many tries we could get,” Jill told TODAY.

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Study Says Meeting Contraception Needs Could Sink Maternal Death Rate

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A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University shows that fulfilling unmet contraception demand by women in developing countries could reduce global maternal mortality by nearly a third, a potentially great improvement for one of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

The study, published on Tuesday in The Lancet, a British science journal, comes ahead of a major family planning conference in London organized by the British government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that is an attempt to refocus attention on the issue. It has faded from the international agenda in recent years, overshadowed by efforts to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases, as well as by ideological battles.

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Two women, nine months and the gift of family

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MURRAY — The tears came late at night when the hospital room was quiet and she was alone for the first time in months.

There were tears of happiness for the couple who were finally cuddling a baby of their own, the boy she had given birth to just a few hours before. And there were also tears of sadness — not because she regretted her decision to become a surrogate mother, but because one of the most wonderful experiences of her life was over.

“When you’ve been the focus of somebody’s life for nine months and that suddenly ends, it hits you hard and it hurts,” says Ryley Eaton. “The couple whose child you carried has lived and breathed you for months — your life and well-being has been their entire focus. But once the baby is here, that all ends. Before you can blink, the journey is over.”

Eaton, 29, was relieved to find a small support network of women who have also made the emotional journey as surrogate mothers, or, as they’re legally known in Utah, “gestation carriers.” Once a month, about 20 members of Utah Surrogates gather at a restaurant or park to share tales of what it’s like to give the gift of family to couples unable to conceive on their own.

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Gates Foundation to Pledge Funds for Contraception

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(Reuters) – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is set to unveil funding a sum in the hundreds of millions of dollars for a campaign to improve access to contraception in the developing world.

The exact amount will be announced at a summit of world leaders and aid organizations in London on Wednesday, but in an interview with Reuters, Melinda Gates said the commitment would be “on a par” with the foundation’s other big programs, like that against malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis.

In January, the foundation pledged a further $750 million for that fight on top of $650 million contributed since the fund was set up 10 years ago.

The aim of the London Summit on Family Planning is to raise $4 billion to expand access to contraception for 120 million women in the developing world by 2020.

According to United Nations figures, about 220 million women in the developing world who do not want to get pregnant, cannot get reliable access to contraception.

“Because we didn’t have contraception or family planning on the agenda we weren’t putting new money into it,” says Gates. “We weren’t saying this is a priority. So this is our moment in time to say this is a priority and we need to fund it.”

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8 Things We Learned From Octomom

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Dr. Edward Dourron / For THE CURRENT

A year ago, the Medical Board of California revoked the license of Dr. Michael Kamrava, finding he “did not exercise sound judgment” in transferring 12 embryos to Nadya Suleman, who already had six children at home. The ruling, while not surprising, was illuminating, and it’s worth reflecting on the eight things we learned from Octomom:

1. Know How to Say No: There is a point where physicians have to make a judgment call. Pregnancies with triplets – let alone eight infants – put the mother at high risk of serious medical complications and put unborn children at risk for developmental disabilities. Doctors need to rely on their professional expertise and experience to know when to turn a patient down.

2. Beware the Patient with Tunnel Vision: Often when a patient comes to a fertility doctor, unsuccessful pregnancy attempts have made her anxious and determined. She might want to get pregnant even if she has underlying conditions that could put her or her baby at risk. Doctors have learned to be vigilant about preconception counseling and medical testing to determine whether patients are healthy enough to pursue pregnancy.

3. Less is More: In 1999, 35 percent of all transfers involved four or more embryos. In 2009, only 10 percent had four or more. And those high-number transfers are generally reserved for patients with significant fertility challenges. In contrast, Octomom already underwent multiple successful IVF (in vitro fertilization) procedures and had given birth to six children when she had her 12-embryo transfer.

4. Less is Sometimes Really More: Single embryo transfers are gaining popularity. Why? During IVF, the rate of monozygotic (identical) twinning is 10 times the rate in nature. Though Octomom didn’t experience this, it is not uncommon for a single embryo transfer to result in twins – or a double transfer to become quads.

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