The Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) issued a new report today stating that in young patients egg freezing techniques have been shown to produce pregnancy rates, leading to the birth of healthy babies, comparable to IVF cycles using fresh eggs.
Tag: ivf
Infertility is a Special Kind of Hell for Military Couples
WASHINGTON — Army Maj. Marc Bailey and his wife, Sallie, never thought they’d have to wait this long or spend this much to have a baby.
As of June, the couple had spent three agonizing years and $35,000 unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant. The effort has nearly exhausted their retirement savings and their patience.
“This is hands down the worst thing we’ve ever been through,” Sallie said. “When you start having fertility problems, it consumes your life.” Read full article.
Europe’s new early embryo test
Women who undergo in-vitro fertilizationare often unsure of their embryo survival once the embryo has been implanted back into the womb. However a new revolutionary fertility test only available in Europe, called Early Embryo Viability assessment (Eava) test, tells whether or not the embryo is likely to survive within 48 hours. Having this new technology means that the strongest embryos can be implanted back into the mothers womb to increase the chances of a success, and hope for more couples. This can also reduce financial cost for infertile couples who often times repeat IVF cycles before having a viable pregnancy. Read full article.
Multicultural IVF Call – Australia
MULTICULTURAL donors are being called on to help fill a growing IVF demand for children from different racial backgrounds.
Demand for IVF is outstripping supply, resulting in a shortage of both sperm and eggs.
The shortage has prompted a new advertising campaign by award-winning clinic Tas IVF looking for donors.
And for the first time the clinic has called for multicultural donors.
Tas IVF director Bill Watkins said there was a growing number of people from different racial backgrounds, including people from the Middle East and India, wanting sperm and eggs. Read full article.
Khloe Kardashian Shares Infertility Struggles, Kim Wants to Freeze Her Eggs
More Kardashian babies on the way?
On Sunday’s episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe all had babies on the brain. Kourtney, who was still pregnant with daughter Penelope at the time, was already talking to boyfriend Scott Disick about having more children.
“I need to see what it’s like when I have two, but [having kids] is what life is about,” Kourtney, 33, explained. “I’m not going on the pill [after giving birth to Penelope]. I don’t believe in it anymore!” Read full article.
IVF Embryos That Were Frozen May Result in Healthier Babies
Women who become pregnant with previously frozen IVF embryos tend to have healthier babies and fewer complications than those who have fresh embryos implanted, research suggests.
Fertility doctors found that mothers had a lower risk of bleeding in pregnancies with embryos that had been frozen and thawed, and went on to have fewer pre-term and low birthweight babies.
Fertility clinics in Britain usually transfer fresh embryos into women several days after they have been given hormone injections that stimulate their ovaries to release eggs. These are extracted and fertilised before being implanted. Any embryos that are not used straight away can be frozen for use months or years later. Read full article.
Could Personhood Bills Outlaw IVF?
(CNN) — For the past two weeks, since Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin uttered the phrase “legitimate rape,” Republicans have had to face questions about their attempts to end abortion.
But could these same attempts also outlaw in vitro fertilization?
The Republican Party’s platform states: “We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.” Read full article.
Researchers Puzzled by Reduced IVF Outcomes in Minority Patients
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. – Although there are hints, researchers remain largely baffled about why ethnic minority patients have lower pregnancy and live birth rates than do whites when they undergo in vitro fertilization, especially as natural conception rates do not appear to be disparate.
Many potential explanations have been hypothesized, including differences in obesity rates, leiomyomata prevalence, inflammatory processes, and estrogen metabolism, Dr. Marcelle I. Cedars said at a meeting on in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, which was sponsored by the University of California, Los Angeles.
None seem to fully account for diminished IVF outcomes in Asian Americans, blacks, and Hispanics. Pregnancy loss rates associated with assisted reproductive techniques also are higher for blacks and Hispanics, she noted.
Economic disparities and unequal access to IVF have been suggested as playing a role, but military studies, in which all patients have equal access to care, confirm reduced outcomes numerically – although the numbers did not quite reach statistical significance.
Dr. Cedars’ group at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has focused on IVF outcomes in Asian Americans, who represent approximately a third of their patient population. Differences came under scrutiny beginning about 6 years ago. Read full article.
Danger, ‘In Vitro’ Fertilized Children May Be Born With Malformations
(MADRID, Spain) – According to a recent study, infants conceived with the techniques used in fertility clinics are four times more likely to have certain birth defects and malformations than children that are naturally conceived.
Among the malformations that were detected are heart problems, cleft lips, cleft palates and abnormalities in the esophagus or rectum. These diseases appear once in every 700 births.
These dangers were increased by the use of assisted reproductive techniques such as fertilization ” in vitro”, which requires doctors to work with embryos and sperm outside the human body.
“I think it is important to consider the fact that there is a risk of birth defects,” says Jennita Reefhuis, epidemiologist from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Disease and author of a study published in the online journal “Human Reproduction”.
The doctor also said that although her study linked fertility procedures to birth defects, it was not able to neither prove the connection nor explain it. If the connection is real, it is unclear whether the procedures increase the risk of these malformations, or whether infertility itself increases these risks.
Moreover, Dr. James A. Grifo, director of the fertility clinic at the Medical Center of the University of New York, more research is needed to test these findings, since the study was only conducted on 281 women who had undergone the fertility treatment. Nevertheless, Dr. Grifo explains that the results are troubling, but a larger study must be conducted with a small group of patients. Read full article.
IVF Overhaul Proposed (UK)
Same-sex couples and women aged up to 42 may soon be eligible for IVF treatment, according to new draft guidelines published today. The proposals were issued by the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and featured prominently in the news, although they also include a range of recommendations not covered by the media.
NICE last issued full guidelines on IVF in 2004, but since then there have been advances in the drugs and techniques available. To take these changes and recent evidence into account, NICE has drawn up new extensive guidelines on everything from who should get IVF to the individual drugs that should be used.
The provisional recommendations include raising the upper age limit for IVF from 39 to 42 for some women and offering fertility treatments to same-sex couples, people whose disability prevents them having sex and people whose fertility might be damaged by cancer treatment.
Despite the tone of some newspaper coverage, the guidelines are currently at a provisional “consultation stage” where outside parties can voice their views on what should be included. The recommendations are not final, and could change significantly before they are officially published later this year. Read full article.