Placenta Previa risks for IVF pregnancies

A study from Norway has found that women who have IVF treatment are six times more likely to suffer a potentially dangerous condition (placenta praevia) during pregnancy than those who conceive naturally.

Interestingly there was also a finding that there is "a threefold risk among mothers who had given birth twice, once conceiving naturally and once IVF, or ICSI, in which a sperm is injected directly into an egg."

Read more in the Australian newspaper

"Designer babies" in the news

Over the last week there have been several newspaper stories, mainly from the UK, about "designer babies".

The Sun (UK) proclaims its sensational headline Designer tot is world first. On closer examination we learn that the couple in question screened their embryos to produce a baby free from a hereditary illness that has inflicted their first child.

Even The Times (UK) published an article entitled First baby in Britain designed cancer free about a couple who have again used PGD to screen their embryos for a form of eye cancer.

The use of the words "design" and "designer" evokes images of people using these technologies to screen embryos not only for disease but for positive attributes such as intelligence and preferred hair or eye colour. It is this Gattaca like image that fuels debates over the ethics of using PGD to screen embryos.

Dr Alan Thornhill, Scientific Director, London Fertility Centre and Honorary Lecturer, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University College London via Bionews has a more realistic view:

"To get the desired combination of high intelligence alleles in just one baby, more than 5000 embryos would need to be tested. It would take a woman 40 years of continuous IVF with PGD to achieve this. In short, 'designing' babies using PGD is a non-starter."

Folic acid link to multiple births

Increasing dietary intake of folic acid could result in more women giving birth to twins after IVF treatment, UK researchers report.

Read more ...

Encouraging openess in egg donor families

Encouraging openness in gamete donation families from BioNews

A report on a study about donor families.

Woman in her 60s pregnant after IVF

There have been a lot of news stories this week about a 63 year old woman who is now 7 months pregnant after IVF treatment. Debates have centred around ethical issues:

Briton in her 60s pregnant after IVF from 'clone' medic from The Scotsman

'Oldest mum': We have thought this through from The Daily Mail

Baby Envy. Dealing with Infertility

Baby Envy. Dealing with Infertility

A rare article about the psychological effects of infertility. Several women talk of the strain that infertility has placed on friendhships with fertile friends.

in vitro maturation - new technique

from The Age (Melbourne, Australia)

"WOMEN who get seriously sick from IVF treatment will soon be offered a
less invasive technique - in vitro maturation"

Read more -
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/technique-gives-new-ivf-hope-
for-women/2006/04/12/1144521401729.html

Newspaper defends IVF competition

<excerpt>A follow up to our previous report:

</excerpt>http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/article/130406/birmingham_post_defends_ivf_competition

<excerpt><color><param>6666,6666,6666</param><smaller>

</smaller></color></excerpt>from The Press Gazette (UK)

<excerpt><bold><smaller>

</smaller></bold></excerpt>"The Birmingham Post has said its
controversial IVF treatments competition was "never about getting more
readers", following the birth of twins to a winning couple."

The newspaper claims that it was hilighting the inequity of the
"lottery" of NHS infertility funding (depending on where people live)
- however critics claim that it was promoted as a 'win a baby'
competition.

One wonders if the newspaper would have reported unsuccessful cycles -
which are more likely to occur.

Egg sharing to reduce IVF costs (UK)

from the Yorkshire Post Today - Leeds,Yorkshire,UK

'Helping someone desperate for a child to realise their dreams is a wonderful thing'

A story from the UK about egg sharing. After egg collection, the eggs
are shared equally between the egg sharer and the recipient.

"With relatively limited NHS funding for IVF available nationally,
many couples with fertility problems cannot afford to pay for the
treatment that they need. Egg sharing provides IVF treatment for
infertile couples who are prepared to share some of their eggs, at a
drastically reduced the cost."

New DVD on Emotional Journey of In Vitro Fertilization

Documentary Journeys through the Emotional, Physical and Psychological Roller Coaster of In Vitro Fertilization

"Technostorks (www.technostorks.com) is the first documentary that goes
inside the lives of couples to explore the emotions, expectations and
physical demands that IVF visits on those who want to conceive. Sitting
alongside them, viewers witness three couples unveil their greatest
hopes and fears. From their living rooms to the operating room,
Technostorks documents their journey beyond medical textbooks and
sensational headlines about sextuplets. It is a personal journey and
one with no single destination."

Newspaper funds IVF treatment

Newspaper funds IVF treatment - a story from the UK about a successful IVF birth of twins. The couple's IVF treatment was funded by a newspaper.

This was worth all the agony, tears and upset
Birmingham.co.uk - Birmingham,UK
Not only are they little miracles, they are also the first to be born...

Australia to plan fertility ad campaign

"The Fertility Society of Australia (FSA) is planning an advertising campaign warning of the factors that can affect fertility, the Age newspaper reports. The society says the ads, the first of their kind in the country, will be about 'IVF doctors stopping people from having IVF'. It hopes to draw attention to the difficulties faced by older women trying to get pregnant, and to raise awareness of the effect factors such as obesity, smoking and Chlamydia infection can have on fertility."

This story originally appeared in The Melbourne Agenewspaper.

You can read more about it on Bionews- the free weekly news digest of the top stories in assisted reproduction and human genetics, published by Progress Educational Trust.

IVF as a business

There's an interesting article by Deborah Hope in the Weekend Australian called I forgot to buy a baby which looks at IVF as a business. The article draws on ideas from the book The Baby Business. The article looks at the lack of regulation in the US IVF market and the implications of having a client base who are prepared to spend just about anything in their attempts to have a baby.

Stork Market - book review

The Stork Market
How making babies has become a $3 billion industry -- and an unregulated mess.

The Washington Post reviews this new book which discusses the Commerce of Conception.

frozen embryos

What to do with frozen embryos

"THE number of frozen human embryos stored in Australia and New Zealand has quadrupled over the past decade and for the first time exceeds 100,000, statistics show.

Although many of them are used promptly by couples taking in vitro fertilisation treatment, IVF experts are concerned that a growing number are in long-term storage with no plan for their use."

Social Sex Selection Study

"Most people would not choose the sex of their child if given the option, according to a new nationwide survey. The study is the first to examine the demand and preferences for sex selection among the U.S. general population."

From New Medical Net

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

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