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(wz) Bringing cheer to the numerous childless couples in the country, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi has become the first government hospital to launch a state-of-the-art in-vitro fertility (IVF) clinic.
“The IVF clinic was on the anvil for a long time. But we have finally set it up. It is the only government hospital in the country that is offering such a costly treatment,” Sunita Mittal, Head of Department of the Gynecology at AIIMS, said.
The setting-up of the clinic, which was given a go-ahead by the Health Ministry, last year, took time because of lack of space and other facilities.
The clinic was finally carved out after the doctors took initiative and used the space they could do without in the existing Gyne ward.
“We didn’t want to take any chance with the equipment. We waited, but we didn’t compromise. Today, we have state-of- the-art machinery,” said Mittal, who took a keen interest in setting up the clinic and would head it. more…

From: »The Hindustan Times«

(sz) Context: Increasing evidence suggests that adverse conditions during early prenatal life are associated with cardiometabolic dysfunction in postnatal life. In vitro fertilization (IVF) conception may be an early prenatal life event with long-term health consequences.
Objective: Our objective was to investigate several cardiometabolic measures in 8- to 18-yr-old IVF singletons and spontaneously conceived controls born from subfertile parents.
Design and Setting: This follow-up study was conducted at the VU University medical center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. more…

From: »The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism« (short review / full article can be purchased online)

(wz) Vindana, the Reproductive Health Centre that has passed many milestones, including its 101st baby being born on Friday, has advanced steadily in what it has to offer since its inception in 1998.
In a cosy home many miles from Colombo, while a family prepares to celebrate the sixth birthday of a little girl on July 1 with a “small party”, in Colombo on Friday, a young mother experiences the joy of childbirth.
What is the link between the bubbly nearly-six girl and Friday’s newborn……both are inextricably linked to Vindana, which helps “mimic nature”. The six-year-old is Vindana’s very first baby and the newborn the 101st. Both of them and all the others in between have been born through the process called in-vitro fertilization or in lay terms known as “test tube” babies.
A fine record within six years and though Vindana has the atmosphere of a family gathering in its waiting room than that of a clinic and the walls are plastered with photographs of smiling babies, some alone and two together, this Reproductive Health Centre has passed many milestones, including many firsts in the country, since its inception in 1998.
“She’s a tall girl,” says Prof. Harsha Seneviratne, smilingly recalling a visit paid by the couple who are the proud parents of the first Vindana baby, along with their daughter. Harking back to the centre’s beginnings he says that although Sri Lanka was into in-vitro fertilization (IVF) technology with the expertise of foreign doctors, the technology was not being retained in the country.
“The need was to keep the technology within and when the time was right and our embryologist was confident that she could handle the process, we started it at Vindana,” he says. The pregnancy and birth on July 1, 2002 of the first such baby were managed by a totally Sri Lankan team. more…

From: »The Sunday Times« (Sri Lanka)

(sz) IVF does not lead to an early menopause or more severe menopausal symptoms, one of the first studies into the long-term effects of the treatment suggests.
Some 200 women who were among the first to undergo IVF, which in the 1980s involved a much heavier drugs regime, took part in the UK study.
At an average of just over 50, the age at which their menopause started was comparable with the national average.
The Bourn Hall Clinic findings are on Reproductive Bio Medicine Online.
The suggestion that IVF could bring on the menopause early is based on the fear that stimulating the ovaries to generate the eggs required for treatment might speed up their decline.
While doctors have long since dismissed this notion - noting for instance that preventing ovulation through the contraceptive pill does not, by the same logic, delay the menopause - the clinical evidence has been lacking. more…

From: »The BBC«

(sz) cclaimed fertility doctor compares egg freezing reproductive methods and gives new insight into slow freezing versus Vitrification
Acclaimed fertility specialist and leading expert in the field of reproductive medicine Dr. John Jain, MD, FACOG announced today that he is conducting new clinical trials of egg freezing technology at Santa Monica Fertility Specialists (SMFS) and Egg Freezing Center (EFC). Dr. Jain’s study is the first in the United States to compare the two most promising methods of egg freezing—the more established slow-freeze method and a newer flash-freeze technique known as vitrification.
Preliminary reproductive results are especially encouraging for the vitrification technique with six pregnancies already established, including the first triplet pregnancy from this FDA approved trial.
While the slow-freeze method has already yielded positive results at EFC, the formation of intracellular ice crystals has traditionally presented certain obstacles to the advancement of the technology. Vitrification, which is a newer flash-freezing technique, allows eggs to be frozen so quickly that potentially damaging ice crystals cannot form.
Previously, the potential for viral contamination of the liquid nitrogen tanks used in the vitrification procedure, plus a lack of a comprehensive study of the technique had slowed acceptance of vitrification in the United States. However, with Dr. Jain’s clinical trial, a new vitrification method is employed using closed containers, approved by the FDA for investigation, which protects the eggs from viral contamination.
“Our success in egg freezing has yielded one of the highest published pregnancy rates in the country, with the birth of more than twenty babies,” explains Dr. Jain. “We are optimistic that following this trial, we will be able to expand our abilities, simplify the reproductive process and increase the rates we are currently seeing.”
“We hope to dramatically alter the fertility preservation options for women—particularly for cancer patients,” added Dr. Jain. “And because we have seen no increase in the overall rates of miscarriage, birth defects and chromosomal defects for babies born from frozen eggs over the rates seen with natural pregnancies, the results of this trial are even more relevant.” more…

From: »eMediaWire« (Press Release)

(cz) New York company agrees to 25-year management pact
A Mount Pleasant company responsible for the first birth in South Carolina using in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, has partnered with a New York-based specialty management company that helps run a network of more than 100 fertility centers nationwide.
Southeastern Fertility Center, which achieved the state’s first IVF pregnancy 24 years ago, has joined with Purchase, N.Y.-based IntegraMed America Inc. in a 25-year deal.
Under the terms of the agreement, IntegraMed bought the assets of Southeastern and will provide a variety of services, including marketing, treatment programs for women who wish to get pregnant, and a sophisticated electronic medical records system.
In turn, IntegraMed will be reimbursed for the cost of its services and will receive a fixed percentage of the center’s revenue and a fixed amount of its earnings. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal was effective April 24.
Southeastern’s founder, Dr. Grant Patton, will continue his work with the practice. He said Monday that the arrangement is a partnership and will help provide for the center’s future.
IntegraMed became a managing partner but does not own the practice, Patton said.
“I really didn’t feel I was giving it up,” he said. “The business is expanding and this will help us continue to grow.”
Southeastern began its IVF program in 1984. Its first pregnancy was achieved that year and the child was born Feb. 20, 1985 — the first “test tube baby,” as the treatment was called at the time, born in South Carolina. more…

From: »Charleston.Net (The Post & Courier)«

(cz) The Government must take action to ensure infertile women are given three cycles of IVF on the NHS, nurses have said.
They called for an end to the postcode lottery which sees some women able to access free fertility treatment while others are forced to pay for care.
Four years ago, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) said women should be given three cycles of IVF on the NHS in England.
Then health secretary John Reid promised one cycle each but stopped short of setting out a timetable for when the NHS would implement the full guideline to give women three chances.
A Department of Health survey of primary care trusts (PCTs) released last year showed that few trusts have implemented the Nice guideline in full.
Nurses voted nine to one to lobby the Government to ensure NHS trusts implemented the guidance.
Jane Denton, from the Royal College of Nursing’s fertility group, told the annual conference in Bournemouth: “It discourages me that even now when people go forward for treatment it’s an enormous battle every step of the way. It adds to the pain and what many see as the stigma of infertility. The importance of the Nice guidance is essential.” more…

From: »The Press Association«

(wz) Australia is facing an infertility crisis as increasing numbers of infertile and “sub-fertile” couples are having children using IVF and other therapies.
A Sunday Herald Sun investigation has revealed a 30 per cent rise in fertility therapies means infertile couples are passing on their defective genes and infertility is being embedded in the national DNA.
Figures going back to 2006 show up to one in 20 babies in Victoria is conceived through IVF or with the help of fertility treatment.
A survey of Melbourne IVF clinics has found a boom in treatments in the past 12 months - a trend confirmed by the Infertility Treatment Authority.
Experts believe the current figure may be as high as one in 15 and will increase.
One in six Victorian couples suffers fertility problems.
A new international study has found sperm counts and birth rates are declining in developed countries, including Australia.
Professors Jens Bonde, of Denmark’s Aarhus University Hospital, and Jorn Olsen, of the University of California, say sperm counts and birth rates are declining in developed countries.
The researchers say infertility now affects about 15 per cent of couples trying to conceive, though not all seek medical help.
Sub-fertility is the term given to couples who have lower than normal fertility but may still be able to conceive naturally. Infertile couples cannot conceive without medical help.
The researchers raise the alarm about the possible effect of environmental pollution with gender-bending chemicals. They say that may explain the fertility problems. more…

From: »Sunday Herald Sun«

(wz) Chicago fertility laboratory claims to have developed a test to measure how many fertile eggs a woman has.
The test kit costs $350. The company marketing the kit, Repromedix, said its target are women who are deciding if they want to have offsprings and want to know their biological limitations.
Dr. Benjamin Leader, chief medical officer of Repromedix, said the device could be likened to a gasoline gauge for motorists who want to know how much fuel is in the tank.
The launch of the Plan Ahead kit sparked debate on its value. Dr. Ralph Kaizer, chief of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said the launch of the kit was premature given the state of reproductive science. more…

From: »AHN«

(sz) Women in Chicago hoping to have an Asian baby through in vitro fertilization may find the road to motherhood longer than they expected. Some local egg donor agencies advertise for donors of Asian heritage, but finding those donors proves to be difficult.
“There is much more demand for Asian donors than there is availability of Asian donors,” said Dr. Richard Sherbahn, founder of the Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago. “Our list of available egg donors will generally include many Caucasian and Hispanic women, a few African American women, and sometimes one Asian.”
Asian couples, like every other ethnic group, typically seek an ethnic match when considering in vitro fertilization. This makes it even more difficult for a couple to find a donor agency that can provide them with eggs.
“Quite often the Asian couples have a strong preference to use an Asian donor of the same ethnicity as their own,” Sherbahn said. “For example, when we had both a Japanese and a Korean woman on our egg donor list we had a Chinese couple that ended up using an egg donor agency in Los Angeles to find a Chinese donor for them.”
“We look for donors [by] nationalities,” said Mary Fowler, in vitro fertilization coordinator at the Center for Human Reproduction in Oakbrook Terrace. “We don’t have as many Asian egg donors, so when they come along we try to grab them as we can. We have a lot of Asian recipients who have been waiting a long time.” more…

From: »Medill Reports«