World's First Delivery After Successful Womb Transplant: Mother tells of her 'Total Happiness' After Son's Birth

• Malin Stenberg was only 15 when told she had been born without a womb
• Her friend donated one as part of programme at Gothenburg University
• She has now spoken about the magic of being a mother to her son Vincent 

Malin Stenberg was only 15 when she was told she had been born without a womb and so would never carry a child of her own.

But now she has spoken of the magic of motherhood after becoming the world’s first woman to have a baby with a womb transplant.

Miss Stenberg, 38, said she wanted to tell her story to give hope to others in the same situation.

‘If you wish for a family and you are unable to have one naturally, for whatever reason, it is so sad,’ she said

‘Total happiness comes from having a family and it doesn’t matter if it is through a womb transplant, or adoption or something else. It is magical.’

Three years ago, Miss Stenberg was given a womb by a family friend, as part of a pioneering transplant programme at Gothenburg University, in Sweden, and 20 months ago, she made history by giving birth to a son, Vincent.

Womb transplants have been attempted before but all had failed, until Vincent was born. As she watched the youngster play with a toy golf set in their home near Gothenburg, Miss Stenberg described her devastation at being told as a teenager that she suffered from MRKH Syndrome, a rare genetic condition which meant she was born without a womb.

‘I wasn’t ready to hear it, I couldn’t take it in,’ she said. ‘I thought that this means that I’ll never be able to carry a child of my own – but that is what women are made for. It felt so unfair. I loved kids and babies and I wanted to know what I had done to deserve this. I felt so alone.’

Eventually, she resigned herself to a life without children and threw herself into her career as a broker in the aviation industry.

Everything changed after she met her fiancé Claes Nilsson when she was 30. She told him about her condition early in their relationship and he vowed to find a way for them to have a family.

The couple looked into adoption and surrogacy before joining the womb transplant project at Gothenburg University.

Malin Stenberg

has spoken of the magic of motherhood after becoming the world’s first woman to have a baby with a womb transplant

Most of the nine women who took part in the scheme were given wombs donated by their own mothers. But Miss Stenberg’s donor was 61-year-old family friend Ewa Rosen.

After the womb was successfully transplanted, Miss Stenberg had IVF treatment – and became pregnant on her first attempt. She and Claes, 40, then ‘walked on eggshells’, until their son was born two months premature.

The couple chose the name Vincent, which is derived from the Latin for ‘to conquer’, to mark the extraordinary lengths they undertook to have him.

Miss Stenberg said: ‘When I held him for the first time, it was just amazing. I felt immediately that he was my baby. It just felt so natural. We truly are a family now.’

Mrs Rosen, whose womb made everything possible, is his godmother and sees him regularly.

Since Vincent was born, four more babies – three boys and a girl – have followed and several other countries have launched their own programmes.

Surgeon Richard Smith, head of charity Womb Transplant UK, is gearing up to start a series of similar operations here.

An estimated 15,000 British women were born without a womb or have had it removed because of cancer or other illness.

Vincent will not be joined by a little brother or sister because his mother has had her new womb removed over fears a second pregnancy would be more dangerous.

 

By Fiona Macrae Science Editor For The Daily Mail

New IVF Device Will Allow 'Natural Fertilization'

The AneVivo device

IVF patients in the UK are to be offered a ground breaking treatment that allows fertilization to take place inside the body, rather than in a lab.

The new device will enable fertilization in the womb.

Conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment involves removing eggs from the ovaries, fertilizing them with sperm in a laboratory, selecting embryos and returning them to the womb to continue the treatment process.

 Previous studies have suggested that babies born as a result of IVF treatment have a lower birth weight. While not a problem in itself, low birth weight has been linked to long-term health, which researchers are keen to improve.

 Prof. Nick Macklon, of the Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton, UK, believes long-term health in babies born through IVF could be improved by spending a shorter time in the laboratory. He was involved with the development of the new device, which is called AneVivo.

 The technique involves putting egg and sperm cells inside a tiny capsule, which is then placed painlessly into the womb for 24 hours. During this time, embryos begin to develop.

 Doctors then remove the device, which is around 1 cm long and 1 mm wide. After 2-4 days, they select the embryos that are healthy enough to be implanted back into the lining of the womb, in the hope of achieving a pregnancy.

 Fertilization in the natural environment

Prof. Macklon believes that the device signals "a real breakthrough in IVF treatment," as it enables women to care for an embryo in its earliest stages of development for the first time.

 Psychologically, it brings parents-to-be closer to the fertilization process and early embryo development. It could provide health benefits for the baby, as fertilization will occur in the natural environment of the womb with access to nutrients and signals from the mother. It will also reduce exposure to the synthetic culture fluids used in the laboratory.

 Prof Macklon, who is also chair in obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Southampton, says:

 "This is a very significant moment in the advancement of fertility treatment in the UK, and we are all extremely excited to be able to offer patients the option of a more natural fertilization process."

 Martin Velasco of Anecova, the company that manufactures the device, says that it will allow free passage of fluids, nutrients, endometrial cells and other cellular and non-cellular components to enable interaction between the embryos and the maternal environment.

 

The AneVivo device was approved by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in September 2015.

 

 

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

IVF After Womb Transplant

A Swedish doctor says four women who received transplanted wombs have had embryos transferred into them in an attempt to get pregnant.

He would not say on Monday whether any of the women had succeeded. In all, nine women in Sweden have received new wombs since 2012, but two had to have them removed because of complications.

The women received wombs donated by their mothers or other close relatives in an experimental procedure designed to test whether it's possible to transfer a uterus so a woman can give birth to her own biological child. The women had in vitro fertilization before the transplants, using their own eggs to make embryos.

"We have already begun transferring embryos into four of the women and plan to make attempts with the others when they are ready," said Dr. Mats Brannstrom, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Goteburg, who is leading the research.

Brannstrom predicted that three or four of the seven women might successfully give birth.

"One or two more will perhaps get pregnant and miscarry, and one or two won't be able to get pregnant," he said.

There have been two previous attempts to transplant a womb — in Turkey and Saudi Arabia — but both failed to produce babies. Doctors in Britain and Hungary also are planning similar operations, but using wombs from women who had just died.

Brannstrom said any woman in the study who does get pregnant will be on a low dose of drugs to keep from rejecting the transplanted womb and will be monitored as a high-risk pregnancy.

The transplants are intended to benefit women unable to have children because they lost a uterus to cancer or were born without one.

Some doctors said women who got pregnant with a new uterus would have to be watched carefully for how the womb progresses throughout pregnancy.

"There are questions about how the physiological changes in the uterus will affect the mother and whether the transplanted uterus will be conducive to a growing baby," said Dr. Charles Kingsland, a spokesman for Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and a gynecologist at Liverpool Women's Hospital.

In a study published last week, Brannstrom and colleagues described the procedures used to transplant the nine wombs and said there were "mild rejection episodes" in four patients.

He said the transplanted wombs would be removed after a maximum of two pregnancies.

Other experts called it a promising step but said it would be crucial that babies get enough nutrients from the mother's blood supply.

"We really don't know if the blood flow to the uterus will increase and adapt in the same way," as in a regular pregnancy, said Dr. Yacoub Khalaf, director of the Assisted Conception unit at Guy's and St. Thomas' hospital in London.

"It is a good sign they have done the (embryo) transfers," Khalaf said. "But a live birth will be the best validation that this works."

 

'Most exciting breakthrough in IVF treatment in 30 years' could triple number of births

Thousands of infertile couples could benefit from a new IVF procedure that can dramatically improve the

Scientists believe they can double or even triple the proportion of healthy babies born as a result fertility treatment with a relatively simple technique that takes a series of time-lapse photographs of the developing IVF embryos.

On average only about 24 per cent of IVF embryos implanted into women in the UK lead to live births but the researchers believe this could be increased to 78 per cent using the new technique for selecting the best embryos.

“I believe it is the most exciting breakthrough we've had in probably 30 years,” said Professor Simon Fishel, managing director of the CARE Fertility Group, where the technique was developed.

“Every IVF practice in the world is unintentionally and unwittingly putting back into the womb unviable embryos that don't make babies,” Professor Fishel said.

“We hope to see a paradigm shift in terms of IVF. It's a game changer for everybody to have such an uplift in live birth rates. This is the beginning of something revelatory,” he said

Each year, licensed clinics in Britain carry out about 60,000 IVF treatments but most of them end in failure, causing immense emotional upset to couples, many of whom have paid between £5,000 and £10,000 for each treatment cycle.

The new procedure, which costs £750, identifies the best embryos to be implanted into the womb based on the time it has taken to develop between two key stages in the early life-cycle of the embryo.

Thousands of time-lapse pictures are taken during the first few days of an IVF embryo's life and these are used to identify the time between the first appearance of the fluid-filled cavity, called the blastula, and the final moment before the embryo “hatches” from its protective shell.

Scientists have discovered that when this period lasts longer than about six hours, the IVF embryo is likely to be carrying an abnormal number of chromosomes, called aneuploidy, which will lead to a failure of the pregnancy.

A preliminary study, published in the journal Reproductive Medicine Online and based on a retrospective analysis of 88 IVF embryos of 69 couples, found that the time-lapse technique could have improved the success rate of life births in this particular group of patients from 39 per cent to 61 per cent.

Even better success rates can be expected once the procedure is refined and applied to the wider population of infertile couples seeking IVF treatment, Professor Fishel said.

“Our work has shown that we can easily classify embryos into low or high risk of being chromosomally abnormal. This is important because in itself this is the largest single cause of IVF failure and miscarriage,” he said.

“The beauty of this technology is that the information is provided by a non-invasive process. So far we have seen a 56 per cent uplift compared to conventional technology, giving our patients the equivalent to a 78 per cent live-birth rate,” he added.

Normally, IVF embryos in an incubator are checked manually each day by embryologists but the time-lapse cameras are able to do this automatically by taking pictures every 10 minutes without interfering with embryo development, said Alison Campbell, embryology director at Care Fertility in Nottingham, who developed the computer algorithm controlling the analysis.

“With time-lapse we have the ability to view more than 5,000 images over the same time period to observe and measure more closely each stage of division and growth. As a result of continuous monitoring we have demonstrated that delays at defined points indicate abnormal development,” Ms Campbell said.

Martin Johnson, a fertility expert and editor of the journal where the work is published, said further “prospective” studies comparing the technique to existing methods of embryo selection are still needed before the procedure is recommended as standard treatment. “There are caveats with this research….and for these reasons we have to be cautious,” he said.

Sue Avery, director of Birmingham Women's Fertility Centre, said: “Unfortunately the study does not compare this exciting new approach with standard practise in embryology in which embryologists already look for the best embryos to place in the womb. Until the new technique is compared to current practise we cannot know whether different embryos are being chosen.”

Egg timing: Key stages

The developing embryo (image one, above) goes through two key stages when the fluid-filled cavity or “blastula” first forms (image two) and when the blastula is fully formed before the embryo “hatches” (image three).

The time between the two is used to judge whether the embryo is viable, with no defects in chromosome numbers. If the period is longer than six hours, the embryo is at high risk of abnormal chromosomes, which will inevitably lead to complications. Time-lapse photographs can indicate which embryos have a shorter time-period between these two points, and so which embryos are best for implantation into the womb.

New IVF breakthrough

Researchers have discovered that a chemical can trigger the maturation of small eggs to healthy, mature eggs in IVF treatment in the future.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have discovered that a chemical can trigger the maturation of small eggs to healthy, mature eggs, a process that could give more women the chance of successful IVF treatment in the future. The results have been published in the revered journal PloS ONE.

Women and girls treated for cancer with radiotherapy and chemotherapy are often unable to have children as their eggs die as a result of the treatment.

Although it is now possible to freeze eggs and even embryos, this is not an option for girls who have yet to reach puberty. A better way of preserving their fertility is to freeze slices of ovarian tissue that contain small immature eggs, and subsequently mature these eggs so that they can be used in IVF treatment. Unfortunately there is, at present, no way of maturing small eggs in an artificial environment outside the body.

How the study was done

A research group led by professor Kui Liu at the University of Gothenburg has recently discovered that a chemical which inhibits the PTEN molecule can trigger the maturation of small eggs to form healthy, mature eggs.

Carrying out a study on mice, the researchers managed to produce five live young mice from eggs matured using this PTEN inhibitor to help the growth and maturation process.

The results have been published in PloS ONE and build on previous results published in Science, where the group showed that PTEN is a molecule that inhibits an egg's development.

"This discovery demonstrates that there is a realistic chance of being able to use PTEN inhibitors to

activate small eggs in a test tube," says Kui Liu, professor at the University of Gothenburg's Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology.

Methods used during study

Professor Kui Liu has led the study and is optimistic about the new method. "This technique is extremely valuable for those women who have only small eggs in their ovaries and cannot be helped by IVF as things stand," says Kui Liu.

Kui Liu's group demonstrated in the study that a short treatment with the PTEN inhibitor can trigger the growth of small eggs, and that this treatment makes it possible to produce plenty of mature eggs.

The results also show that healthy, live young can be born from treated eggs used in IVF. Not only were the young mice born fertile, they also showed no signs or symptoms of chronic disease at the age of 15 months, which equates to 70 human years.

Kui Liu is a professor of molecular biology and his group specialises in the study of molecular mechanisms that affect the development of female reproductive cells. His aim is to be able to use this method to help women.

"We hope to see this method being used clinically within five to ten years," says Kui Liu.

(EurekAlert, September 2012)

Source: health 24.com

Household chores can help IVF to succeed

Gardening, doing the housework or going for brisk walks can treble IVF success, according to researchers.

Women who led active lifestyles in the year leading up to their treatment were far more likely to conceive.

Scientists have been divided about whether exercise helps or hinders the chances of pregnancy, either naturally or with IVF.

Active: Gardening, doing the housework or going for brisk walks can treble IVF success, researchers say

 Research: Women who go for brisk walks are three times more likely to conceive than those who spend most of the day sitting down

While some studies have found that physical activity reduces fertility, others have found it improves it – or makes no difference.

Now scientists have found that women who do the housework, go for brisk walks or take other ‘moderate’ forms of exercise are three times more likely to conceive than those who spend most of the day sitting down.

The lifestyles of 87 women undergoing IVF were compared in the year leading up to their treatment.

The researchers gave the women a score depending on how much physical activity they did each day.

This did not necessarily have to be exercise but could include dusting, vacuuming, pushing the buggy or gardening.

The findings will be presented this week to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s annual conference in San Diego, California.

New IVF treatment boosts 42-year-olds’ odds of having baby to 60 pc

London, October 22 (ANI): US scientists have developed an IVF process that could give a woman in her early forties the same chance of becoming pregnant as a 32-year-old.

They claimed that the screening treatment could improve a 42-year-old’s odds of having a baby from 13 per cent to 60 per cent, the Daily Mail reported.

It works by picking only the embryos most likely to create a healthy foetus, slashing the odds of miscarriage.

Crucially, it also involves the embryos being frozen for at least a month after IVF to allow the woman’s reproductive organs to return to normal.

Scientists believe that the powerful fertility-boosting drugs given during IVF can harm the embryo if it is put into the womb too soon.
A woman aged 40 to 42 typically has a low chance of becoming pregnant with IVF and is unlikely to conceive naturally. But the researchers from Colorado said that their procedure could boost success rates to 60 per cent.

Patients will pay 2,000 pounds for the test, on top of a cycle of IVF costing 3,000 pounds to 4,000 pounds a course. The process has already been used on 1,200 women in the US.

Called comprehensive chromosome screening with vitrification, it involves taking a few cells from a blastocyst – an embryo just five or six days old.

An ideal blastocyst has 46 chromosomes – 23 each from the sperm and the egg. The wrong chromosome count reduces the odds of pregnancy – or ‘implantation’ – and raises the risk of miscarriage. Only if the cells have 46 chromosomes is the embryo frozen.

Some women will not have good enough embryos and will never become pregnant no matter how many times they have IVF. So, the scientists said the screening could spare them the heartache of further costly treatments.

” What we’ve been able to show is that a woman aged 38 to 42, if she has a blastocyst with a normal number of chromosomes, her chances of implantation are independent of her age. So she has the same chances of implantation – at 60 per cent – as a woman who is 32,” the paper quoted Dr Mandy Katz-Jaffe, from the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, as saying.

Oxford academic Dr Dagan Wells, who helped develop the process, said freezing the embryo, known as cryopreservation, not only boosted the chances of pregnancy but also produced healthier babies.

He added: “The birth weight of the babies is essentially the same as babies conceived naturally, whereas embryos produced by IVF and transferred immediately, without cryopreservation, have a tendency to be of lower weight.”

The scientists will explain their new IVF treatment at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in San Diego, California. (ANI)

EGGS RECREATED INVITRO TO TREAT INFERTILITY

Regenerative-medicine researchers have moved a promising step closer to helping infertile, premenopausal women produce enough eggs to become pregnant. Surgeons at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, reported that they were able to stimulate ovarian cell production using an in vitro rat model, and observed as the cells matured into very early-stage eggs that could possibly be fertilized. Results from this novel study were presented at the 2012 American College of Surgeons Annual Clinical Congress.

"While conventional hormone replacement therapy is able to maintain female sexual characteristics, it's unable to restore ovarian tissue function, which includes the production of eggs," the study's authors reported. Ovarian tissue function is critical for premenopausal women who desire to conceive.

Several fertility disorders can leave premenopausal women without an adequate amount of eggs. These disorders can also prevent a woman's ovaries from secreting enough of the hormones that stimulate egg production. Events such as ovarian operations, an injury, or radiation therapy for cancer can interfere with ovarian function, according to Anthony Atala, MD, FACS, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and chair of the department of urology at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Although the causes may vary, about 10 percent of childbearing-age women struggle with infertility,* meaning that these women try for at least one year but are not able to conceive. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the most common cause of infertility in premenopausal women is polycystic ovarian syndrome* - an imbalance of sex hormones. This disorder causes irregular ovulation and higher levels of male hormones in affected women.

According to Dr. Atala, the goal of this study was to spur the ovaries to produce the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone as well as stimulate egg production. The surgeons extracted ovarian cells from three-week old female rats, which would be equiva- lent to about 25 years old in humans. The cells were isolated in a culture of nutrient-dense growth factors for one week. Next, the cells were placed under a collagen gel that allows them to grow three dimensionally instead of in a single layer. The researchers then assessed cell growth, hormone production, and gene expression in the specimens.

In their early observations, the surgeons found immature oocytes protruding from clusters of ovarian cells. To help the oocytes mature, the surgeons developed a microwell system to keep oocytes inside clusters of ovarian cells. In humans, primordial germ cells or oogonium are the first stage of development into ovums, or mature eggs. The researchers also found that the cells expressed germ cell markers consistent with those of early stage eggs. They observed that the oocytes began to develop zona pellucida, a membrane that forms around an ovum as it develops, and showed a capacity to produce steroids similar to those produced by early stage eggs or follicles.

"Now, the goal is creating more mature structures that could actually be used for fertilization," Dr. Atala explained.

Dr. Atala and his colleagues believe that the newly generated oocytes would be able to mature to a certain stage in humans. The oocytes would then be put back into the female patient to go through natural ovulation and conception, or the oocytes would be fertilized in vitro and then implanted in the uterus. Dr. Atala said because ovarian cell function is restored, a woman using this procedure may be able to produce the necessary hormones and would not need addi-tional hormone replacement therapy.

Although the surgeons were able to generate early stage eggs in vitro, Dr. Atala cautions that the procedure has a while to go before it can be applied to humans: "This study represents the elementary, first stages of the research process," he said. "But we're showing the principle signs that this approach is a potential strategy for infertile women who want to have children," he concluded.

SOURCE: medicalnewstoday

Center for Human Reproduction More Than Doubles IVF Pregnancy Rates in Women Over 44

A New York fertility center is seeing an enormous increase in IVF success rates in older women told by other clinics that they could only get pregnant with donor eggs.

Center for Human Reproduction (CHR), a New York fertility center with special expertise in treating women with “older-behaving” ovaries, reported significantly improved ongoing clinical pregnancy rates for 2011 at practically all age groups. The improvement was, however, most pronounced in women above age 44 years, where the rate doubled from the previous year.
Pregnancy rates are calculated by dividing the number of clinical
pregnancies by that of embryo transfers. While most age groups saw increases in IVF pregnancy rates, the most dramatic improvement in pregnancy rates were observed in women at ages 44-49, where pregnancy rates increased to 10.3%.
“This pregnancy rate for women 44-49 is almost unbelievable, considering that patients at these ages, at most other IVF centers in the world, are no longer even given the chance of pregnancy with use of their own eggs and are usually advised to use donor eggs, “ notes David
H. Barad, MD, Director of Clinical ART at CHR. “These results reflect our
center’s fight for every egg and every embryo in older women seeking fertility treatment, based on the accumulated results of very active, decade-long research in how to successfully treat ‘older’ ovaries.”
In concentrating most of the center’s research on “older-behaving” ovaries, CHR developed many major clinical breakthroughs, like DHEA (androgen) supplementation, which has since become standard treatment around the world. CHR investigators also recently confirmed the importance of androgens (male hormones) for follicle and egg maturation.
“What makes these pregnancy rates even more remarkable are the patients in whom we achieved them,” adds Norbert Gleicher, MD, Medical Director and Chief Scientist of CHR. As a result of premature ovarian
aging (POA), even younger patients of CHR, in most cases, have
ovaries that behave like those of much older women.” Dr. Gleicher continues:
“The majority of our patients have previously failed IVF cycles elsewhere, and have been turned away by other fertility centers as
‘hopeless’ unless willing to use donor eggs. CHR was their fertility center of last resort. Achieving pregnancies at these rates in these women is practically unprecedented.”
About Center for Human Reproduction
The Center for Human Reproduction (CHR, http://www.centerforhumanreprod.com),
is one of the world’s leading fertility centers, with, currently, over half of
the center’s patients coming from outside the larger New York tristate area, approximately a quarter from overseas and Canada. CHR has a worldwide reputation as the "fertility center of last resort," specializing in treatment of infertility in women with diminished ovarian reserve due to advanced age or, in younger women, due to premature ovarian aging (POA).
Dr. Gleicher and Dr. Barad are available for further comments.
Communications Manager
Center for Human Reproduction
212-994-4400 .4491
Email Information
SOURCE: YAHOONEWS

Are IVF clinics hiding the risks of PGD from parents?

American couples who have pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
(PGD) done on their embryos are almost never informed of the potential risks of the procedure, a Wellesley College biologist claims in the Journal
of Medical Ethics.
Without this vital information, says Michelle LaBonte, parents are not capable of giving informed consent.
PGD, or embryo screening, has become a standard service in IVF clinics. A technician removes a cell from an 8-cell embryo and tests it for
defects. If it passes, it is implanted in the womb.
In a potentially explosive article, Dr LaBonte asserts that “In efforts to eliminate risk through the use of PGD, we may in fact be creating a new set of risks perhaps even more concerning than those we are trying to
avoid.” She bases her claims on a survey of the websites of the 262 US clinics offering PGD. She found that “86.6% of PGD-performing centres state that PGD is safe and/or fail to disclose any risks on their websites despite the fact that the impact of the procedure on the long-term health of offspring is unproven”.
IVF clinics have adopted the PGD technology for a wide range of uses -- from eliminating defective embryos to testing for genetic defects to
sex selection -- without a thorough understanding of the risks involved. She cites an IVF specialist who admitted ruefully that “[T]he babies that have
resulted aren't of reproductive age yet, and we don't know what sort of effects this technique has on the adult human… And I think that I consider it still experimental taking a cell from an embryo.”
She points out that this has happened before. For years amniocentesis was touted as completely safe until studies showed that there was an increased risk of spontaneous abortion.

Dr LaBonte speculates about why the risks of PGD are being
ignored. She gives six reasons:
* Parents were so concerned about the genetic disease of a first
child that they overlooked the risks of PGD for a second child.
* Doctors allayed the misgivings of parents.
* Parental choice trumps the dangers to the embryo: “Unlike ‘passive smokers,’ potential biopsied embryos are not in a position to seek regulation of this procedure.”
* Debate over the ethics of using PGD to create “designer babies” has
distracted parents’ attention from its safety.
* There have been no widely-publicised catastrophic failures yet.
* “The financial rewards of PGD represent a conflict of interest for
providers.”
Dr LaBonte concludes IVF clinics must inform their clients that PGD is still an unproven technology.
“prospective parents of PGD babies should be made aware of all
safety information, including that of human and animal studies, and be informed that long-term, definitive safety studies have not yet been carried out.
Anything less should not be considered ‘informed’ consent.”
Source: bioedge.org

Babies with three parents possible within three years

The child would inherit their identity from
their mother and father but would take their
mitochondrial DNA from the donor

Babies with three biological parents could be a reality within three years using an IVF technique which eradicates hereditary disease by using the undamaged DNA of a third party.
Researchers have secured £6m in funding to develop the groundbreaking treatment which could prevent genetic conditions affecting the heart, muscle or brain being passed on to children and future generations.
But the method is controversial because it involves transferring the parents' DNA into a donor egg, meaning the resulting child would inherit a tiny fraction of their genetic coding from a third party.
Regulations currently forbid scientists from implanting such eggs into patients.
SOURCE: telegraph.co.uk

Something New in Southeast Fertility Treatment: Low-Cost IVF

For those who desire to become parents, but have trouble getting pregnant, these are optimistic times. Advances in fertility medicine, such in vitro fertilization (IVF) and PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis), provide new options that weren’t available in the past.
But all that advanced medicine comes with a price. IVF treatment can easily cost $25,000 and up, with no guarantee of success. That puts fertility treatment out of reach for many.
Two Georgia infertility specialists are hoping to change all that. Drs. Edouard Servy and Joe Massey founded the Servy Massey Fertility Institute (SMFI) in August 2011 with the belief that fertility treatment should be more accessible to all.
SMFI’s goal is to provide IVF treatment at reduced prices, offering initial in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles for only $6,575 – almost half the cost offered at many other clinics nationwide. The goal is to provide exceptional and affordable fertility care so patients can pursue their dream of having children.
Servy and Massey are both pioneers in reproductive endocrinology and the treatment of infertility, and have been helping patients build families for more than 30 years.
The Servy Massey Fertility Institute has locations in Atlanta and Augusta and works in collaboration with the Georgia Health Sciences University. The fertility docs say they are committed to eliminating hidden costs and unnecessary testing, recommending assisted reproduction only when conventional treatment fails or is not an option.
Sara and Kirby Yawn are just one family that found help at SMFI. The Yawns came face-to-face with infertility when Kirby was diagnosed with low sperm quality. Sara had already tried several treatments, including ovulation stimulation medication and a cycle of intrauterine insemination (IUI), but pregnancy seemed no closer for the Georgia couple.
Finally, Sara and Kirby met with Dr. Edouard Servy at the Augusta office to discuss in vitro fertilization (IVF).
“Dr. Servy reviewed our case and explained what he thought was the best option,” Sara says. “He was very thorough in helping us understand the entire process and was optimistic that our success rate would be high.”
In the past, the high cost of fertility treatment – especially IVF, one of the most expensive treatments – has been a barrier for many couples diagnosed with infertility. But with the creation of SMFI, Drs. Massey and Servy can work together to provide infertility solutions at affordable prices. The institute’s unique low cost program not only provides affordable treatment to hopeful couples, but continues to keep a high standard of quality and results.
“Because of the skill set required for a successful IVF procedure and the number of people involved, the cost of in vitro fertilization can be very pricey,” Dr. Massey explains. “At the Servy Massey Fertility Institute, we take pride in our expertise and never cut corners, but we also believe that everyone should have the opportunity to build a family. This is why we’ve taken great care to reduce costs wherever possible to offer affordable, low cost IVF.”
IVF is often one of the only ways for a couple diagnosed with infertility to achieve pregnancy, but has a high success rate – one of the reasons the SMFI team decided to pursue a low-cost IVF program.
For Sara and Kirby Yawn, IVF was just what they needed. After a few months of treatment, the couple found out they were pregnant. Lilian Grace Yawn was born the next year.
“We named her Lilian, which means pure, innocence and beauty, and Grace, which is a blessing from God,” Sara says. Although they know having more children may not be easy, for now Kirby and Sara are thankful to have one of their biggest dreams – parenthood – come true.

SOURCE: 2whbf.com

DuoFertility Or IVF For Infertile Couples?

duo fertility monitor

A new study published in European Obstetrics & Gynaecology (European Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 2011;6(2):92-4) shows that DuoFertility used for six months (a small body-worn monitor coupled with an expert consultancy service) gives the same chance of pregnancy as a cycle of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) for many infertile couples. This study demonstrates that there is a viable non-invasive, drug-free alternative to IVF for thousands of couples, with the potential to save them (and the NHS) millions of pounds each year. The paper, by Chausiaux et al, is the first peer-reviewed publication of clinical pregnancy rates using the new DuoFertility product and service. The lead author, Dr. Oriane Chausiaux, has been researching infertility for over a decade in Paris and Cambridge. Summarising the results, she said "Although we have been observing higher than anticipated pregnancy rates with this programme for some time, and reporting this at academic conferences, this is the first study with sufficient statistical power to meet the stringent criteria of the peer review publication process. The results show that for couples suffering from unexplained infertility as well as a variety of other factors, six months using DuoFertility is as effective as a cycle of IVF and twelve months using DuoFertility yields a higher clinical pregnancy rate than a cycle of IVF - even at the 95% confidence level". The study followed the first 500 couples using DuoFertility from launch in 2009, including 242 who qualified for IVF/ICSI treatment, of whom 90 had previously had the procedure. The one-year clinical pregnancy rate for those who qualified for IVF was 39%, which is higher than either the UK or EU clinical pregnancy rates for a cycle of IVF (26% and 28% respectively), whilst the corresponding rate for those who had already been through a cycle of IVF/ICSI was 28%. The impact of the study by Chausiaux et al is clear. For many couples, not only is IVF invasive for the woman and demeaning for the man, it is a procedure needlessly costing the NHS, or the couple themselves, thousands of pounds. Whilst a typical cycle of IVF costs the NHS around £4,500 including drugs and consultancy, the cost in the private sector (which accounts for 80% of IVF procedures performed in the UK) is typically £7,000. By comparison the DuoFertility program offers a year of monitoring and support for £495 and has now been shown to be equally or more likely to achieve pregnancy. Not only this, but the company offers to refund those couples who have not achieved pregnancy after a year of using DuoFertility as directed - a guarantee that caught the attention of TV 'dragon' Theo Paphitis and and Boots, the UK's leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer, resulting in the product being stocked by Boots after appearing on the BBC documentary series "Britain's Next Big Thing" earlier this year. The publication coincides with reaching the 200th reported pregnancy by users of DuoFertility, which was celebrated with a party hosted by medical personality Dr. Miriam Stoppard. Dr. Stoppard, addressing the assembled parents and parents-to-be, said "[it is] the first product or service that I have seen in this arena which truly wraps around all of the needs of the couple, from the medical monitoring, to the review of this data by experts, and then the all-important emotional support that is provided."..."The results of the scientific studies on pregnancy rate are very encouraging, but do need to be followed up with live birth rates, and I look forward to seeing further research." IVF and assisted reproductive technologies have been in the spotlight recently with a damning report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility. The report showed that fewer than one-quarter of NHS Primary Care Trusts are providing the number of IVF cycles recommended by the NHS guidelines, and that there is widespread evidence of PCTs adding extra conditions on infertile couples that prevent them obtaining treatment. Gareth Johnson, MP leading the group, said "One in Seven couples in the UK suffer from infertility problems, indeed more women attend GP surgeries to obtain advice on infertility than any issue other than pregnancy. This shows just how big an issue infertility is for so many people". It is perhaps not surprising therefore that Cambridge Temperature Concepts, the company behind DuoFertility, was recently recognised at Downing St as one of nine innovative small businesses to help reduce costs in the public sector through the Cabinet Office Innovation Launchpad programme. The study authors caution that although non-invasive and drug-free, DuoFertility is not suitable for all couples. Dr. Husheer, inventor of DuoFertility explained "although DuoFertility is suitable for around 80% of infertile couples, there are some couples with medically identified conditions that prevent natural conception, such as a woman with two blocked fallopian tubes. In these cases IVF is absolutely the right thing to do, enabling conception where it was previously a physical impossibility."
source: medicalnewstoday

Palm Beach Fertility Center Now Offering Treatment Regimen Featuring Acupuncture Alongside IVF

The Palm Beach Fertility Center has recently announced that they are now offering a new form of treatment for couples that have been unable to conceive a child naturally. The experienced medical specialists within the facility have developed a treatment regimen that combines the benefits of acupuncture and IVF to increase the chances of a successful pregnancy.

This additional service is the result of a new study within the field that suggests that women who paired their IVF treatment with acupuncture had a 65% greater chance of becoming pregnant through the treatment. This study was released through the reputable and established British Medical Journal and included 114 women who had been approved for IVF treatment. It found that, of the women who received acupuncture, there were fewer miscarriages, more pregnancies and a 7% higher birth rate than those who did not receive the acupuncture treatment.

This study was founded upon previous research by the same medical team in which they studied 147 women who had responded poorly to IVF treatment. This previous study found that the pregnancy rate was 40%, with 11% more babies born for those who received acupuncture during their scheduled IVF treatment.

Renowned worldwide fertility treatment experts such as Raymond Chang of New York’s Meridian Medical Group have been using acupuncture within their fertility treatments for the past decade and have experienced great success.

"Acupuncture provides better circulation and better blood flow to the womb. It will give a better chance for the eggs to be nourished and therefore carried." - Dr. Raymond Chang, Director of New York's Meridian Medical Group

Now, with this additional treatment offering through the Palm Beach Fertility Center, many women from across the South Florida area will have an increased opportunity to conceive a child of their own.

SOURCE: PR.COM