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(sz) Using oral contraceptives before attempting IVF can allow women and their physicians to better know the timing of ovulation. Cynthia Graber reports.
In vitro fertilization efforts can be helped by, oddly enough, oral contraceptives. That’s the finding from Tel Aviv University, site of the largest study on using birth control to help IVF.
One of the challenges to IVF is timing. Current hormone treatments to stimulate ovulation have to coincide with a particular moment in the woman’s cycle. Not knowing the exact timing for scheduling the egg retrieval and fertilization can be stressful, which can lower the odds of success. In the Tel Aviv study, researchers looked at women who underwent a 12 to 17 day treatment of oral contraception. The women were checked to make sure there was absolutely no activity in their ovaries or uterus. Then they began stimulation hormones to start the clock. Women who went through this protocol had similar numbers of pregnancies to a control group that didn’t use birth control. Which means that oral contraception didn’t harm their ability to conceive.
The researchers say that this treatment demands a slightly longer cycle and higher levels of ovulation-inducing hormones. But they also say it could allow couples to more accurately plan for procedures, which might be give couples more peace of mind. more…

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From: »Scientific American«

(wz) A generational and class divide over the suitability of single women and lesbians as IVF mothers has been exposed by the Times/Populus poll.
Public opinion as a whole is opposed to the proposal to change the requirement that fertility clinics consider a child’s need for a father before treating patients to a “need for supportive parenting”.
Extensive support for the move among young people, however, suggests that attitudes towards IVF for lesbians and single women are changing.
The over-55s are strongly against the plans, with 50 per cent saying the law should not be changed and 19 per in favour. Among young people, however, the findings are reversed: 44 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds back the reform and 26 per cent oppose it.
The poll also found significant differences in opinion between social groups: though all classes came out against the measure, opposition was strongest among manual workers.
Conservative voters are also much more likely to reject the reform, by a net 28 points, while Liberal Democrats support it by a 14-point margin. Labour voters are split, with 32 per cent in favour and 36 per cent against. more…

From: »The Times«

(sz) Mothers’ health may be put at risk in the quest for high pregnancy rates at British IVF clinics, warn experts
The UK has one of the worst fertility treatment safety records in Europe, according to new figures published by the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology.
The chances of developing serious complications are up to four times higher in the UK than in other countries carrying out similar numbers of fertility treatments. Experts warn that women’s lives are being jeopardised in order to improve the numbers of successful pregnancies.
Britain has the highest levels of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), the most serious and potentially fatal side-effect of IVF treatment, the figures show. At least two women with OHSS have died in the past three years, and there are fears of more cases going unrecorded.
Complications from IVF treatment from the use of drugs to stimulate the production of eggs can range from severe bloating and vomiting, to kidney failure, and even death in rare cases. Fertility experts say they fear many serious cases are not being recorded, because women go straight to casualty or end up in intensive care, the cause of their symptoms going unnoticed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
Germany carried out in 2003 almost three times as many IVF cycles – implantations of fertilised embryos – as the UK, researchers found, but the UK had nearly three times more cases of OHSS. In 2004, France carried out nearly twice as many IVF cycles as Britain, but its OHSS rate was a quarter of that in UK clinics. more…

From: »The Independent«

(wz) Iran has unexpectedly liberal ideas about contraception and assisted reproduction techniques, the result of pragmatic decisions, and consequent laws, arrived at by Shia interpretations of religious tenets.
Every morning Salma runs her hand across her empty belly. It has been the same fruitless swipe for three years now and Salma’s heartache has filled the space inside with misery. She is 29, has a degree in civil engineering, a job and a husband who cares about her happiness. Firoz and Salma have known each other since they were children. Salma believes that they were pre-destined to be together so it seems cruel that they have been unable to have a baby. Salma struggles to find a way to live with the disappointment she believes she has brought upon herself, her husband and their families.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), infertility affects approximately 8-12% of couples of reproductive age (15-49 years) worldwide. A 2000 study suggests that in Tehran infertility is about 12%, in line with WHO calculations. Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse. It is also the inability to carry a baby to term or have a family – and the feeling of exclusion from the human experience that can bring. Although male and female factors contribute equally to infertility, the term has historically and unfairly been used to describe the reproductive status of women, since they become pregnant and give birth. more…

From: »Le Monde diplomatique«

(wz) The cost of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States is anywhere from 10 to 15 thousand dollars — for just one cycle. The price tag including donor eggs can jump up to around 30 thousand dollars. In the Czech Republic, the cost of IVF is around four thousand dollars. The average success rate for IVF in the U.S. is about 25 percent. That number can be higher or lower depending on the clinic you go to.
GOING OVERSEAS: Craig and Marcela Fite founded IVF Vacation with the hopes of bringing affordable alternative IVF options to Americans by taking them to Marcela’s native country — the Czech Republic. The cost of an IVF vacation is about seven thousand dollars or 85 hundred with an egg donor. This price includes airfare, hotel accommodations for 21 days, medication, procedures and lab fees. The clinic the Fites use is The Clinic of Reproductive Medicine and Gynecology in Zlin. The clinic’s success rate is about 45.8 percent over all for a single IVF cycle. more…

From: »WPTV« (press release)

(wz) Website matches sperm, egg donors with offspring
The listing reads like a personal ad: “Brown straight hair. Dark brown eyes. Light brown complexion.” But the writer isn’t looking for a date — he’s searching for his half-siblings and their common sperm donor.
Since 2000, when the Donor Sibling Registry was established, 18,604 people have posted their personal information. Some are children born through in vitro fertilization — others are parents or donors. More than 4,700 matches have been facilitated.
Wendy Kramer of Colorado created the registry with her son Ryan, who was curious about his genetic origins, yet knew little about his sperm donor.
When people go to the site, they often start out with mixed feelings about searching for a half-sibling or donor.
“They go into it thinking, ‘It would be great to find out I have a brother,’ ” she said. “Then they discover, ‘Oh my gosh, I have 22.’ ”
The registry is full of donors. In the early days, men — many of them medical students — often donated their sperm. more…

From: »Calgary Herald«

(wz) An Australian couple who used IVF to conceive a daughter to avoid passing on an incurable disease which only affects males are suing their doctors after giving birth to a boy, a report said Sunday.
The couple opted to use in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to get pregnant so the woman could be implanted with only female embryos to avoid having a boy afflicted by the genetic and life-threatening illness haemophilia.
But in June 2005 they were delivered a son, Jess, who was soon afterwards found to have a severe form of haemophilia, a disease in which the blood does not clot properly and puts sufferers at risk of bleeding to death. more…

From: »AFP«

(sz) For decades, women have been using the pill to not get pregnant. However, for women who do want a baby but are finding it difficult to conceive, the very same contraceptive may be a boon, say researchers at Tel Aviv University.
On a study conducted on 1,800 women at the Infertility and IVF Unit at the Helen Schneider Hospital for Women, Rabin Medical Centre, researchers led by Dr. Haim Pinkas, found that a two-week intervention treatment using a standard low-dose birth control pill can help time egg harvesting – making the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) more convenient for doctor and patient.
According to clinicians, the ability to time the IVF process is also crucial to successfully conceiving.
“One of the main drawbacks in treating infertility is timing a woman’s body with the clinic’s schedule, so we can get as many mature eggs as possible. IVF clinics can be extremely busy,” said Dr. Pinkas. more…

From: »The Times Of India«

(wz) An Australian couple who used IVF to conceive a daughter to avoid passing on an incurable disease which only affects males are suing their doctors after giving birth to a boy, a report said Sunday.
The couple opted to use in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to get pregnant so the woman could be implanted with only female embryos to avoid having a boy afflicted by the genetic and life-threatening illness haemophilia.
But in June 2005 they were delivered a son, Jess, who was soon afterwards found to have a severe form of haemophilia, a disease in which the blood does not clot properly and puts sufferers at risk of bleeding to death.
The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said the couple, which it did not name, have launched a Supreme Court action against their doctors and IVF clinics. more…

From: »AFP«

(cz) Polish First Lady Maria Kaczynska has expressed support of in vitro fertilisation, but rejected the idea of refunding the procedure from the state’s budget.
In an interview for the Internet edition of Wprost weekly the President’s wife said that she understands the tragedy of people who can’t have children. That is why she is in favour of IVF, which may be the only chance for them of starting a family.
The First Lady argued, however, that in vitro fertilisation shouldn’t be refunded by the state in view of the bad financial shape of the Polish health care system.
Maria Kaczynska’s opinion is in opposition to views of the part of the Polish clergy, who are against the procedure entirely and call the method ‘an abortion in disguise’. more…

From: »The News« (Poland)