Thursday, January 19, 2006

IVF "triplets" born 10 years apart

IVF "triplets" born 10 years apart from the Sydney Morning Herald (AUS)

A news story about a woman who is pregnant with her third child from one egg harvest performed ten years ago. She already has two children from the same harvest - one is ten and the other is seven.

More IVF if just one embryo transferred

More IVF could be provided if only one embryo transferred

UK researchers say that an additional 10,000 cycles of IVF per year could be provided free on the National Health Service (NHS), if clinics took action to reduce the number of multiple births following IVF. It is common for women undergoing IVF to have two embryos implanted at a time, to increase their chance of becoming pregnant, and some women may even have three embryos implanted.

Read the rest of this article (with links) on BioNews

Monday, January 09, 2006

Over the counter fertility test

"Scientists at the UK's Birmingham University have developed a fertility test kit that can be bought over-the-counter at chemists and used by couples at home. The Fertell test, which will cost about £80, takes less than an hour to work and is said to give accurate results in nearly all cases." from Bionews

Frozen egg twins, male infertility factors, healthy IVF/ICSI babies

UK couple have frozen egg twins - ivf.net

Environmental Factors, Lifestyle, And Medications Affect Male Fertility - ivf.net

IVF, ICSI babies as healthy as others - WebMD

Saturday, January 07, 2006

IVF parents keep it a secret?

Parents of IVF babies remain quiet on fertility issue
from the Sun Herald (AUS)

"WHILE one Australian baby in 35 is now conceived through IVF, many parents still fear a stigma is attached to fertility problems.

Experts say that while about 10,000 women each year undergo the treatment nationally in an industry worth $40 million, many prefer to keep it a secret."

To tell or not to tell? This is a discussion that inevitably occurs on online discussion boards. Many women choose not to tell anyone about their fertility issues or IVF treatments while undergoing them but it can be a different story once their hopes are achieved and their baby is born.

Part of the reason for keeping quiet while undergoing IVF treatment may be due to a couple's embarassment over fertility problems, particularly if the problem is largely due to male factor. However, in many online discussions women have talked about how they don't want their fertility issues or IVF treatment to be the source of family gossip or idle chatter or that they don't want the "pressure" from outsiders about the way their treatment is going. Instead many women choose to discuss their treatment anonymously (or semi-anonymously) with other women going through the same treatment via internet message boards.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Parenting after infertility - article

Waiting for the Other Shoe - article from infertility central.

This article explores issues and emotions that infertile parents may experience once they achieve a pregnancy and/or when their child is born.

Frozen egg babies & cancer mums in the news

Wold first - cancer mum has frozen egg baby
from the Daily Mail (UK)
"A cancer survivor has become the first in the world to have a baby using her own frozen egg."

Cancer victim's bid to have frozen embryo baby fails
from the Daily Mail (UK)
"A woman left infertile after cancer treatment has been unsuccessful in a bid to overturn a High Court decision that she cannot use her frozen embryos to try and have a child."

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Male infertility on the rise

It's been a while since I've updated the news items, mainly due to the Xmas lull.

Wh infertility is now a male crisis

This article from the UK's Daily Mail describes how male infertility is on the rise.