By 6th IVF attempt, 65% of couples achieve pregnancy

A UK study recommends that couples undertaking IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) should have up to six attempts, rather than the 3 or 4 embryo transfers that is currently standard practice. By that stage, 65% of women, with an average age of 35, have been able to have a baby.

This recent study, which was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, could give fresh hope to couples who have tried to have a child for several years via IVF. In practice, IVF is often stopped after three or four unsuccessful embryo transfers.

An IVF cycle includes treatment with hormones to stimulate the ovaries, egg retrieval and the transfer of embryos arising from that hormonal stimulation.

Professor Debbie Lawlor of the University of Bristol and Professor Scott Nelson of the University of Glasgow suggest that the number of IVF cycles per patient should be extended beyond the usual three or four. Their research shows that 65% of women have a baby by the sixth attempt, taking an average of two years.

The researchers calculated the live birth rate for each cycle, as well as the cumulative probability of achieving a live birth across multiple IVF cycles up to 9.

The study followed 156,947 patients (with an average age of 35, and a median four year duration of infertility) and 257,398 IVF ovarian stimulation cycles.

The researchers found that in all women, the live birth rate for the first cycle was 29.5%, and 32% for those under 40. The rate remained above 20% up to and including the fourth cycle for women under 40. The cumulative live birth rate across all cycles continued to increase until the ninth cycle. By the sixth cycle, 65.3% of the women had a live birth, taking an average of 2 years.

Because of these encouraging results, the study's authors advise parents-to-be to consider IVF as a process with multiple cycles, rather than a single shot.

A test to predict the success rate of IVF is currently being developed by a team at France's Montpellier University Hospital in partnership with researchers at the French institute Inserm. They are studying an IVF outcome biomarker: the cell-free DNA present in a woman's blood. With a simple blood test, it will be possible to know the best moment for fertilization, thereby increasing the chances of success. This test could be used in the hospital from January 2016.

source: yahoonews

UK Steps Forward on Babies Made From 3 People's DNA

scientist working during ivf process

House of Commons was in favour; Bill next moves to House of Lords

British lawmakers in the House of Commons voted today to allow scientists to create babies from the DNA of three people—a move that could prevent some children from inheriting potentially fatal diseases from their mothers. The vote in the House of Commons was 382-128 in favor. The bill must next be approved by the House of Lords before becoming law. If so, it would make Britain the first country in the world to allow embryos to be genetically modified. The controversial techniques involve altering a human egg or embryo before transferring it into the mother. British law currently forbids any such modification and critics say approving the techniques could lead to the creation of "designer babies."

Defects in the mitochondria can result in diseases including muscular dystrophy; heart, kidney, and liver failure; and severe muscle weakness. The techniques would likely only be used in about a dozen British women every year who have faulty mitochondria, the energy-producing structures outside a cell's nucleus. To fix that, scientists remove the nucleus DNA from the egg of a prospective mother and insert it into a donor egg from which the nucleus DNA has been removed. This can be done either before or after fertilization. The resulting embryo would end up with the nucleus DNA from its parents but the mitochondrial DNA from the donor. Scientists say the DNA from the donor egg amounts to less than 1% of the resulting embryo's genes. Last year, the US FDA held a meeting to discuss the techniques and scientists warned it could take decades to determine if they are safe.

source: newser.com