varoblog

(cz) Children born after embryo biopsy for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) do not show any more major malformations than those born after artificial reproduction technologies (ART) without PGD, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today.
Professor Ingeborg Liebaers, from the Research Centre for Reproductive Genetics, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium, will say that the results of her study of 583 children born after PGD was reassuring.
PGD is a new option for couples at risk of transmitting genetic diseases. Instead of carrying out a prenatal diagnosis followed by a termination of pregnancy, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (where a sperm is injected directly into an egg) is performed, followed by genetic testing of the embryos. Only unaffected embryos are subsequently transferred to the womb.
“Because embryos are biopsied in PGD procedures, and this constitutes an additional manipulation of a delicate organism, we set out to study whether this had any effect on the health of children who were born as a result of this procedure”, says Professor Liebaers. The scientists first collected data on the pregnancies by giving questionnaires to patients on the day of the embryo transfer. Additional questionnaires were sent during pregnancy, at delivery, and later on to the patients, their gynaecologists, and paediatricians. Children were examined at 2 months and 2 years old. more…

From: »Huliq«

(cz) Canberra has ruled out Medicare funding for IVF and donor insemination for single women and lesbians who are not clinically infertile, creating another barrier to treatment even if the Bracks Government revokes the laws barring access.
A day after a long-awaited report was released urging the State Government to allow so-called “socially infertile” women to use fertility treatment, Prime Minister John Howard and Health Minister Tony Abbott reiterated their opposition to gay couples adopting and having children.
Mr Howard also called for a uniform approach throughout the country regarding adoption and access to fertility treatment.
The comments ended a week in which moral issues dominated the political debate, with Cardinal George Pell under fire for suggesting Catholic MPs in NSW who voted in favour of therapeutic cloning may not be following church teaching. more…

From: »The Age« (AUS)

(wz) The money is there – but infertile couples due for their first IVF treatment this May and June have been turned back because of how funding is allocated. The delay is creating a bottleneck in the waiting list for all IVF patients needing treatment in Canterbury, and causing extra distress for patients.
The Government funds up to two IVF cycles for patients meeting a strict criteria, who have been unable to conceive naturally. Auckland and Wellington’s District Health Boards bulk fund the treatment. However, the Canterbury DHB splits funding between first and second cycles of treatment.
Money for first cycles has run out, but there is money to spare for second cycles. About a quarter of first cycles result in pregnancies. Those who get pregnant on a first public funded cycle are not eligible for a second cycle. In Canterbury, leftover money from second cycles cannot be transferred to first cycles as it is in other centres. more…

From: »SCOOP Independent News (health)« (NZ)

(sz) Eye, hair colour, complexion, blood group should match husband’s
New Delhi: Eight years ago when Garima Chawla went for an Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI), she was not too anxious about the sperm donor. The donor had black eyes, a fair complexion, and had a clerical job. That’s all the information Chawlas had, and they did just fine.
That was 1999.
Circa 2007, women are looking for the “perfect” sort of donor: handsome, well educated, tall, talented and caring. And before they buy the sperm, couple’s today want a “proof of perfection”, say doctors.
According to doctors, most women ask for pictures of the donor, hear his voice and even ask questions.
“Women are aware these days and they do not mind asking for their choice,” says Dr Suhani Verma, in charge of the In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF) facility at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. “The trend has grown, and so have the choices.” more…

From: »DEHLINewsline« (cities.expressindia.com)

(sz) Robert Winston’s attack on fertility clinics was misjudged and misleading, says Alan Handyside
Robert Winston’s attack on IVF clinics for exploiting patients for profit “out of their desperation to get pregnant”, and by offering tests for which “there was no clinical justification” is unwarranted, misleading and a disservice to patients (Winston: IVF clinics corrupt and greedy, May 31).
Lord Winston was particularly critical about a test for chromosome screening which “costs several thousands of pounds, [and] is routinely used to weed out unviable embryos”, adding that “most of the people who are doing this work are doing a form of cookery without understanding the science behind it”.
Abnormalities in the number of chromosomes an embryo inherits at fertilisation are the main cause of pregnancy failure. In IVF treatment, screening embryos before they are returned to the uterus is a well established method for identifying these abnormalities. Our own patients are always informed of the limitations of the test. Yes, we can only “interrogate a tiny portion of an embryo’s genome”, but there is no assertion that we are doing otherwise.
Contrary to Lord Winston’s claim that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has “not prevented the exploitation of women” nor “limited the number of unscientific treatments people have access to”, this and other similar tests on embryos are tightly regulated. more…

From: »The Guardian Unlimited« (comments)

(sz) The rise in fertility treatment for the over-40s exposes the cons about conception.
Money can’t buy you love and, more often than not, it can’t buy you a baby either - at least not one that you can carry in your forty year old womb. Still, there’s no keeping a good market down. So, it’s not much of a surprise that the number of women undergoing fertility treatment in their forties has increased tenfold in fifteen years according to figures released by the government’s fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
In numbers, the impact is more modest. In 1991, fewer than 600 women in their forties were given in vitro fertilisation (IVF). By last year, the figure had risen to 6,000. All will have forked out between £3,000 to £8,000 per cycle, since IVF on the NHS is only available to women who are younger.
In return for their money, women aged 40-42 have a one in ten chance of conceiving. While nine out of ten of those aged 44 or older will go home childless and with a lot less money in the bank.
Given that the list of possible reasons why conception is being delayed is unlikely to change, the army of middle-aged would-be mothers, resorting to IVF, is likely to continue to swell no matter how many cradles fail to be filled. more…

From: »The Guardain Unlimited« (comments)

(cz) The human womb is, ideally, a single-occupancy dwelling. One baby at a time is what women’s bodies are marvelously calibrated to conceive and carry. One baby has lots of room for brain growth and organ development; one baby is (relatively) easy to deliver; one baby will usually have at least nine months of close parental bonding before another sibling possibly comes along.
Yet in the past 30 years, this country has experienced a stunning escalation in multiple births. The number of babies born as triplets, quadruplets or even more rose from about 900 in 1972 to 7, 275 in 2004. That same year, the highest number of twins ever were born - 132, 000, nearly double the number born in 1980. Not coincidentally, there has also been a rise in premature births, infants born with low birth weights and disorders - such as cerebral palsy - that can occur when a premature baby’s brain is insufficiently developed.
In the debate over federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, these facts need to be talked about. The broad U.S. ban on embryo research funding is one major undiscussed cause of our epidemic of multiple births. We need to consider embryo research as something important to the health of mothers and infants. more…

From: »tampabay.com« (The Washington Post)

(cz) According to a new research that studied hazardous multiple births, women undergoing IVF (In vitro fertilization) could be treated with single embryo without reducing their chances of having a child.
The researchers found that moving one embryo at a time to the womb can marginally raise success rates. The study, led by Yacoub Khalaf, of Guy’s Hospital, London, may increase pressure on fertility clinics to adopt similar methods to reduce multiple births.
The program at Guy’s has shown that one embryo can be transferred successfully in women under 35 who generate at least four good-quality embryos.
In the study, that analyzed patients under 35: the procedure raised chances from 35 per cent to 41 per cent. Multiple pregnancy rates decreased by almost half the percentage, from 37 to 19 per cent.
The high success rate with single embryos was made possible by keeping embryos in culture for five days, rather than the practiced three days, before its transfer to the womb. more…

From: »SAWFNews« (news.sawf.org)

(sz) The Irish Fertility Society, of which Dr John Water­stone is a committee mem­ber, has written to the De­partment of Health and the Irish Medicines Board highlighting its concerns at the interpretation and implementation of the EU human tissue directive.
Ireland and Denmark are the only two countries which have transposed the Directive into law, so Ireland, along with Denmark, are at the forefront of its implementation.
Dr Waterstone, who is Medical Director of the Cork Fertility Centre, told IMN that the regulatory bodies should consider a delay in implementing the regulations, before it finalises its own interpretation, in order to see how other countries go about introducing the legislation.
The Society’s two major issues relate to the air quality requirements for IVF clinics and the timing of screening for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV in patients. Dr Waterstone said Denmark has not even spoken about air quality “which again exemplifies our bone of contention”. He said there is “no empirical evidence… there is no evidence whatsoever that…pure air is going to make your success rates better”.
In addition, he said that in Denmark patients are tested for Hep C/Hep B and HIV up to 30 days before egg collection and if there is a negative result the patient does not have to be re­tested for 24 months. more…

From: »The Irish Medical News«

(sz) A taskforce to formulate laws to govern reproduction of test-tube babies has began work, a year after it was set up.
This comes as the Nairobi Hospital is ready to open its fertility enhancement centre to the public, with 100 couples on the waiting list. There are four centres working on in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) on research basis.
“We have no specific regulations governing assisted reproductive technologies,” said the Director of Medical Services, Dr James Nyikal, on Tuesday when he inaugurated the taskforce.
The 21-member team comprising medical, legal, social and theology experts is expected report back in three months. more…

From: »The East African Standard« (allAfrica.com)