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(sz) Childless couples who are desperate to start a family are being lured into expensive fertility programs by unrealistic success rates.
This is happening as the unregulated IVF industry booms in Queensland, The Sunday Mail has found.
Some Queensland fertility clinics claim success rates for pregnancies per IVF treatment cycle as high as 45 per cent – more than double the national average expectation of 22 per cent chance of success.
Even that national rate is dependent on several favourable health factors, doctors say. The success of IVF procedures for older or overweight women is considerably less and can even be single-digit percentages, the experts said.
And many clinics quote success rates based on the successful implantation of an embryo and choose not to factor in the percentage of pregnancies that fail to pass the first trimester for a host of reasons.
Others are selective as to the period in which they assess success rates, sometimes focusing on a “boom period” of as little as 18 months to come up with a favourable percentage to be quoted to future customers.
Psychologists say women who build their hopes of falling pregnant based on a clinic’s claimed success rate, face huge disappointments if treatment is unsuccessful. And workers in the industry say those who fail to fall pregnant usually have to deal with disappointment at home on their own, often as they come off a hormone-charged course of injections. more…

From: »News.com.au« (Australia)

(sz) The majority of infertility patients are in favor of using left-over embryos for stem cell research and would also support selling left-over embryos to other couples, according to a recent survey.
The researchers surveyed 1,350 women who presented for infertility at a large, university hospital-based fertility center in Illinois. The survey included 24 questions on patient demographics, obstetric and infertility history, and opinions about using extra embryos for stem cell research and selling extra embryos to other couples.
Assisted reproductive technology has resulted in the creation and cryopreservation of extra embryos at fertility centers across the country. It was estimated in 2002 that 396,526 embryos were in storage at U.S. fertility clinics, according to previously published research.
These embryos may be used for future pregnancy attempts, donated to other couples or agencies, given to researchers, or discarded.
Because infertility patients are the gatekeepers of these leftover embryos, it is important to understand their opinions, according to Dr. Tarun Jain, University of Illinois at Chicago assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility, clinical IVF director, and lead author of the study. more…

From: »Science Daily«

(wz) There are no laws now to regulate the use of ART in India, which has an estimated 200,000 IVF clinics.
After months of delay, legislation designed to regulate the growing number of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics and protect childless couples from exploitation by unscrupulous operators is set to be introduced in Parliament.
The Assisted Reproductive Technologies, or ART, (Regulation) Bill will be tabled in the winter session of the Lok Sabha, said Pushpa M. Bhargava, founder-director of the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and one of the authors of the proposed legislation.
“The Bill is almost final now after several rounds of discussions with the stakeholders and general public,” said Bhargava. “Having prepared a set of rules and regulations, we hope (for) an early notification of the same if it gets through the Parliament.”
Since 1978, when the world’s second and India’s first IVF baby was born in Kolkata, then known as Calcutta, the field of assisted reproduction has grown rapidly. Although newer techniques helped spread its use, it has been clear that particular care needs to be taken to protect the rights of female subjects of research as well as users of such techniques.
“Infertile women, given the social pressure to reproduce as well as their own intense desire to conceive, are particularly vulnerable to commercial interests and experimentation in the medical field, since desperation might lead them to consent to hazardous techniques in the hope of conceiving,” said Mahendra N. Parekh, a gynaecologist at Mumbai’s Sushrusha Hospital.
There are no laws now to regulate the use of ART in the country, which has an estimated 200,000 IVF clinics. And in the absence of a legal — and punitive — framework, none of the ART/IVF clinics are licensed, and anecdotal evidence abounds about the exploitation of patients by quacks as well as concerns about social and ethical issues surrounding surrogate parenthood. more…

From: »live.mint (The Wall Street Journal)«

(cz) Millions of men who take antidepressants could be damaging their sperm and risking infertility, according to new research.
The findings, described as “alarming” by one leading expert, suggest that commonly described drugs for depression can break up DNA in sperm.
Outwardly the sperm may appear normal in terms of their numbers, shape and swimming ability. But similar levels of DNA fragmentation in sperm are said to have led to fertility and pregnancy problems in the past.
For couples undergoing In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment, fewer embryos form when the man’s sperm has damaged DNA. When embryos do form, they are less likely to implant in the womb - which is essential for a successful pregnancy.
The link with antidepressants was discovered by Professor Peter Schlegel and Dr Cigdem “Cori” Tanrikut at the Cornell Medical Center in New York City.
In 2006, the two fertility scientists reported that two men had developed low counts of healthy sperm after taking two different antidepressants. Both were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressant which work by altering levels of a brain chemical that influences mood. more…

From: »The Press Association«

(sz) Acupuncture could help women undergoing fertility treatment become pregnant,
new research has found.
One in three women given the ancient Chinese therapy - which involves the insertion of needles into specific points on the body - alongside their IVF treatment successfully conceived, scientists from the University of Southampton discovered.
The success rate among those who did not combine fertility treatment with acupuncture was one in five.
IVF treatment involves “embryo transfer” - when an egg has been fertilised in a laboratory is put into a woman’s womb.
The study, which involved more than 2,000 women, discovered that the chance of the embryo implanting successfully, triggering pregnancy, increased if the patient was treated with acupuncture at about the same time as the transfer.
Its authors, however, found there was no discernible benefit if the acupuncture took place days after the fertility treatment.
They concluded: “Acupuncture around the time of embryo transfer achieves a higher live birth rate of 35 per cent compared with 22 per cent without active acupuncture.”
Dr Ying Cheong, from the university’s reproductive medicine unit, who led the research, said the findings would offer encouragement for the 33,000 women who embark on IVF treatment each year.
“Our research is good news, because it shows that acupuncture can help with fertility in patients undergoing IVF,” Dr Cheong said.
“Whether or not acupuncture helps women achieve a live birth is a controversial issue, and opinion has been divided on it.
“We show that acupuncture, performed at the right stage, can have significant benefit. A woman who does so has a much greater chance of having a live birth than a woman who doesn’t have acupuncture.” more…

From: »The Daily Telegraph«

(sz) Women in their early 40s have doubled their chances of having a baby through in vitro fertilisation in just two years, and their success rate is increasing faster than any other age group, according to national statistics that hold new hope for older would-be mothers.
Better media for culturing embryos and improved techniques to select those most likely to develop healthily were disproportionately beneficial to older women, who produced eggs of more variable quality, said Peter Illingworth, the president of the Fertility Society of Australia.
A trend in transferring embryos at the blastocyst stage, five or six days after fertilisation, rather than the two-to-three-day cleavage stage, had helped older women, Professor Illingworth said. This allowed more certain selection of the best-quality embryos.
Women aged 40 to 44 had a 9.9per cent chance of a delivering a baby through the procedure in 2006, up from less than 5 per cent in 2004, according to the figures, which were from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
This age group is now less than half as likely as women in their late 30s to take home a baby. more…

From: »The Sydney Morning Herald«

(wz) A group of Vietnamese scientists has managed to generate sperm from stem cells, bringing new hope to infertile men, the group said in a recent statement.
The research began two years ago when scientists from the University of Natural Sciences’ Stem Cell Research and Application Lab – under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City – started experimenting with a type of stem cell taken from the testicular tissue of mice.
With the addition of chemical agents, the cultures of stem cells began differentiating into sperm cells.
It was found that for every 100 stem cells, up to 46 sperm cells could be produced, the researchers said. Scientists now plan to use in vitro fertilization to impregnate female mice with the stem cell sperm later this month. If the results are positive, researchers will next conduct trials on humans.
The researchers are currently working with Ho Chi Minh City’s Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital in applying for human trials, said Phan Kim Ngoc, one of the scientists working on the project. more…

From: »Thanh Nien News«

(cz) Scientists worry that boys born after treatment inherit dads’ problems
More than a dozen years after fertility specialists learned to turn all-but-sterile men into fathers, scientists are awaiting answers to a looming question: What about the sons?
The first few babies born using a process that transformed male infertility by allowing doctors to use sperm from men with impossibly low counts and other problems are now turning 15. An even larger crop of so-called “ICSI babies,” children conceived with the help of intracytoplasmic sperm injection and in vitro fertilization, or IVF, are just approaching adolescence.
For the daughters born to these dads, there appears to be little problem. Research suggests that, in general, techniques such as IVF and ICSI are safe and effective, although some scientists say there’s not enough data to be sure. One of the central concerns centers on the possibility of chromosomal abnormalities leading to male infertility.
As puberty kicks in, scientists believe they may start to see sons who’ve inherited the problems of their fathers, an issue that many couples may not have considered in their quest to have children.
“This is the generation we’ve created,” said Dr. Tommaso Falcone, who chairs the obstetrics and gynecology department at the Cleveland Clinic and directs the Reproductive Endocrinology Research Laboratory. “We may have tens of thousands of boys born with infertility.” more…

From: »MSNBC«

(wz) The Australian government’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) said Wednesday it has granted its first license allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos to obtain embryonic stem cells.
The license was issued to the in vitro-fertilization firm Sydney IVF, which reportedly has access to 7,200 human eggs for its research.
If the company is successful in its endeavor, it would be the first in the world, according to NHMRC. Although scientists in other countries have used a variety of techniques to make stem cells that are similar to embryonic cells, none have successfully obtained embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos.
Australia lifted its ban on such research, known as therapeutic cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer, in December 2006 amid an unusual parliamentary conscience vote. However, national legislation still restricts the use of excess IVF embryos and the creation and use of other embryos in research is restricted, and all human cloning for reproductive purposes is prohibited.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer is a method in which DNA from the nucleus of an unfertilized egg is removed and replaced with the nucleus of an adult cell, such as a skin cell. The technique can be used to create cloned embryos in order to obtain embryonic stem cells for therapeutic applications, but can also be used for reproductive cloning. more…

From: »Red Orbit«

(cz) The advanced DY Patil Fertility Centre along with a new medical college building was recently inaugurated by the President Pratibha Patil in Navi Mumbai.
This centre has started in association with the Bloom IVF fertility care clinics. Bloom IVF is also in the process of starting an advanced fertility care centre in association with the Fortis group at the La Femme Hospital in New Delhi.
The unit is focusing on increasing the success rates of patients who come for the first time to access IVF facility as well as patients who fail multiple times by using this facility, … more…

From: »expressindia«