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(sz) Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and McGill University have developed a procedure to estimate the reproductive potential of individual embryos, which may possibly lead to a decrease in multiple-infant births and higher success rate in women undergoing in-vitro-fertilisation (IVF).
They presented the new procedure in an abstract at the Society for Gynaecologic Investigation Conference in Reno, Nevada.
“The main reason for multiple gestations following in-vitro fertilisation is the inability to precisely estimate the reproductive potential of individual embryos,” said lead researcher Dr. Emre Seli, Assistant Professor in the Yale Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. more…

From: »DailyIndia.com«

(sz) Increasing support for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) could reverse falling birth rates in developed countries, new research suggests.
Denmark’s comparatively high birth rate appears to be down to its wider take-up of IVF, according to New Scientist.
The Scandinavian country has a birth rate of about 1.9 children per woman - higher than the US and most of the rest of Europe, the magazine reported.
In 2002 4.2% of babies in Denmark were born through artificial reproductive technologies (ART) like IVF - compared with 1.4% in the UK and 1.2% in the US in 2004.
Scientists at Austria’s Vienna Institute of Demography calculated likely future birth rates for Danish women with and without ART. more…

From: »Channel 4 News« (online)

(sz) In its early and most critical stages, human reproduction requires precise, vital functions. The role of one sperm-delivered protein, which is crucial to the process, is being closely observed by scientists from the United States and Canada. Lab tests in recent years have produced valuable information and hopes of regulating that protein to enhance fertility.
Peter Sutovsky, assistant professor of animal sciences in the University of Missouri-Columbia’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology in the School of Medicine, has collaborated with Richard Oko, professor of anatomy and cell biology at Queen’s University (Ontario), and other academic researchers examining the role of postacrosomal sheath WW domain binding protein (PAWP), which during fertilization must function properly to initiate the reproduction process. If not, reproduction won’t occur, Sutovsky said. more…

From: »innovation report / Forum für Wissenschaft, Industrie und Wirtschaft«

(sz) A SYDNEY woman who endured 19 miscarriages over 11 years this month gave birth to a baby girl after a revolutionary new treatment developed by Australian scientists.
Fertility specialist Dr Gavin Sacks was using Lisa Body, 39, as a case study to research the role of “natural killer cells” in recurrent miscarriages.
His treatment resulted in a successful pregnancy for Ms Body after more than a decade of heartbreak.
“It’s not something you get used to, but you deal with it each time and once it happened you move on and try again,” she said.
“We have always looked for different reasons and have always been searching for answers – but we never gave up.”
The mother from Thirroul, who had a daughter naturally more than five years ago, has travelled around Australia looking for a doctor to give her a reason why she could conceive but never carry to term. more…

From: »news.com.au« (The Daily Telegraph • Australia)

(sz) Study authors say more research is needed to find the cause of lower success rate.

Asian women have a tougher time getting pregnant with in-vitro fertilization than their Caucasian counterparts, a U.S. study suggests.
Women of Asian descent were 29 percent less likely than their Caucasian counterparts to become pregnant after IVF, Dr. Karen Purcell of Fertility Physicians of Northern California in San Jose and her colleagues found.
Little data are available on how ethnicity affects outcome after infertility treatment, the researchers write in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
To investigate, Purcell and her team looked at national U.S. data on 25,843 whites and 1,429 Asians who underwent IVF, as well as more detailed information on 370 white and 197 Asian patients treated at one clinic in San Francisco. more…

From: »The Orange County Register«

(sz) To address the high rate of multiple births resulting from in-vitro-fertilization (IVF), researchers at Yale School of Medicine and McGill University have developed a procedure that estimates the reproductive potential of individual embryos, possibly leading to a decrease in multiple-infant births and a higher success rate in women undergoing IVF.
Over 100,000 in-vitro fertilization procedures are performed each year in the United States. In 2002, 3.1 embryos on average were transferred in IVF cycles, but only 34.3 percent resulted in pregnancies. Of those successful pregnancies, 29 percent resulted in multiple births. These statistics remained unchanged within the last decade suggesting that an improvement is needed over the current methodology used for embryo evaluation. more…

From: »Exduco Graduate Studies & Schools Directory«

(sz) (AddPR) Tarzana, CA - The roller coaster ride of fertility treatment is emotionally and physically exhausting. Couples typically begin treatment with simple and relatively inexpensive interventions such as ovulation induction and intrauterine insemination (IUI), and when treatment has failed, progress to injectable medications and finally in vitro fertilization (IVF). Each treatment protocol may last up to one month and several cycles of the same method are often repeated to maximize chances for success.
The IVF process, while expensive and physically demanding, has been associated with the highest success rates of all treatment modalities. However, many couples remain childless after one or more attempts. Couples who have failed IVF multiple times are often depressed, angry, disappointed, discouraged, and in general emotionally, physically, and financially drained. If IVF, the procedure with the highest success rate for achieving pregnancy, has failed, what other hope is there? more…

From: »The Center for Fertility and Gynecology« (press release)