Recent advances and events related to infertility and its treatment

Welcome to the infertility news section of IVF-infertility.com. We have included a regularly updated selection of relevant news articles and current events concerning infertility and its treatment. We have tried, where possible, to place all texts within the context of infertile couples, and hope this is helpful to you. Please note that the more recent articles are at the end of the page.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO MEMBERS THAT HAVE CONCEIVED We recently received this picture from site members. Congratulations to our site members who have recently given birth!

HFEA REDUCES NUMBER OF EMBRYOS THAT MAY BE REPLACED TO TWO The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority in the UK has decided to reduce the number of embryos replaced from three to two. In exceptional circumstances three eggs or embryos may be replaced. The aim is to reduce the number of multiple births after IVF treatments.

FAILED IVF TREATMENT AND IMMUNE PROBLEMS Professor Alan E Beer, Professor of Immunology at Chicago medical school presented his work at a recent British Fertility Society meeting. He studied a group of women who had recurrent failed IVF treatments and women with recurrent miscarriages. He found that about 70% of them have immune problems involving NK cells (natural killer cells) and their products alpha tumour necrosis factor. After treating them with drugs to lower the levels of their NK cells before IVF treatment, most of them conceived and delivered. The work by Professor Beer may open the door for new therapy for this unfortunate group of patients.

UK TO CUT ADOPTION DELAY The UK government has launched a scheme aiming to cut the length of time that it takes for a child to be adopted. The National Adoption Register will carry the details of all the children awaiting adoption in England and Wales; with the aim of placing the children with families within 6 months. Currently social services departments maintain their own lists and it takes almost 2 years to place a child.

IVF SPECIALISTS WIN HFEA APPROVAL OVER TEST FOR DEFECTIVE EMBRYOS The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority in the United Kingdom gave the green light to IVF specialists for aneuploidy screening of the embryos before being implanted to the womb. Aneuploidy is a condition where there is an abnormal number of chromosomes in the embryo such as Down's syndrome. By detecting the faulty embryos and replacing only the normal ones, the chances of healthy pregnancy and live birth are increased. The technique should be offered to infertility specialists who have the right experience and equipment. The technique would not be done on every patient, but certain groups will benefit such as older women, women with repeated IVF failures, women with repeated miscarriages and where there is a family history of genetic disease.

FAILED IVF TREATMENT AND IMMUNE PROBLEMS Professor Alan E Beer, Professor of Immunology at Chicago medical school presented his work at a recent British Fertility Society meeting. He studied a group of women who had recurrent failed IVF treatments and women with recurrent miscarriages. He found that about 70% of them have immune problems involving NK cells (natural killer cells) and their products alpha tumour necrosis factor. After treating them with drugs to lower the levels of their NK cells before IVF treatment, most of them conceived and delivered. The work by Professor Beer may open the door for new therapy for this unfortunate group of patients.

UK TO RE-EXAMINE LAWS ON GAMETE AND EMBRYO DONOR ANONYMITY The health minister of the United Kingdom has announced that the government intends to re-examine the current HFEA regulations governing sperm, egg and embryo donation. He is due to release a consultation paper on the subject of anonymity. Any change would be prospective. The current law would still apply to any child or children already conceived. However, there is concern that if anonymity is waived it would deter potential donors. Furthermore, donor's right to privacy and the childs right to know his or her genetic parents need to be considered.

NOVEL TEST TO EXAMINE EVERY CHROMOSOME IN A SINGLE CELL IN A HUMAN EMBRYO Dr Wells and Dr Delhanty from the United Kingdom, presented this new technique at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The method allows the doctor to examine every chromosome of an embryo for defects that cause pregnancy failures and miscarriages. Current techniques can only test 5 of the 23 chromosomes present in human cells. The technique would help the embryologist to decide which embryo to transfer, and could greatly improve the live birth rate of IVF. The team hopes that the procedure could be available in three years.

OVARIAN TISSUE FREEZING AND AUTOGRAFTS Ovarian tissue freezing is a new technique and has very valuable clinical applications in the management of young women who are at risk of premature ovarian failure (POF) such as before receiving radiotherapy or chemotherapy for cancer treatment and in cases of familial POF. The procedure involves freezing tiny pieces of ovarian tissue. After thawing, only primordial follicles (follicles that are in the early stage of development) are found to survive. These follicles require maturation to obtain mature eggs. There are three possible ways to obtain this maturation: In vitro maturation in culture medium to the point where it is ripe for fertilization. Transplanting the tissues into an animal. However, this raises ethical concerns. Grafting the tissues into the patient either into its normal site which would allow the possibility of spontaneous pregnancy, or grafting it into a site other than the normal site necessitating recourse to IVF. This has been reported recently by Dr. Oktay and colleagues (Fertility and Sterility Journal, December 2000). As yet no human pregnancy have been achieved after ovarian transplant. Researchers are confident that the technique will be perfected within 10 years.

VIAGRA AND IVF Dr Sher and Dr Fish from USA reported that three out of four women became pregnant after taking the drug Viagra while undergoing IVF treatment. These women had already experienced many failed IVF treatments. The reason beyond the use of Viagra was to increase the blood flow to the uterus and to improve both the pattern and thickness of the endometrium. Viagra suppositories rather than oral tablets were used in order to reduce the side effects such as headaches and low blood pressure because it deliver the drug near the proximity of the uterus. A large randomized study needs to validate the efficacy and  safety of this treatment which, if proven, may offer hope for some women who can not conceive because of the poor quality of their endometrium.

FREEZING SPERM AND TESTICULAR TISSUE PRIOR TO CANCER TREATMENT An increasing number of infertility clinics are freezing semen from young men with cancer for later use before embarking on chemotherapy or radiotherapy which may result in permanent damage and sterility. The survival rates after cancer treatments have improved dramatically. Sperm freezing is an established technique and has resulted in many normal livebirths. However, this presents problems, particularly for young boys, who can not produce a semen sample. For this group of patients tiny pieces of their testicular tissues can be frozen for later use. Sperm retrieved from testicular tissue can then be used to fertilize eggs by ICSI technique. Attempts have been made but as yet testicular transplant have yet to produce sperm. Experts believe that it is feasible. There have been concerns that reimplanting tissues taken from a cancer patient prior to treatment could results in reimplantation of cancer cells, and to the return of the disease. For women with cancer, the clinic may offer three options depending on many factors such as the woman's age, marital status and the length of time available before commencing chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The options include: IVF and freeze all eggs if she is has no partner. Inseminate the eggs with her husband/partner sperm and freeze any resulting embryos. Freeze tiny pieces of ovarian tissue. This is the only option for patients who have not yet started menstruating and in women who have got only a short period of time before commencing their cancer treatment. Freezing embryos is a well-established technique and has resulted in many normal livebirths. However, freezing eggs and ovarian tissues is a relatively new technique. Only a few babies have resulted from frozen eggs and as yet no pregnancy have been achieved from ovarian tissue.

EGG DONATION AND NUCLEAR TRANSFER Researchers are trying to achieve a safe technique to replace the nucleus of a healthy donor egg with a nucleus taken from a cell of "the would be the mother". The donor egg is then fertilized by the recipient male partner's sperm and the resulting embryo is subsequently transferred into the recipient uterus. If successful, the technique would help the recipient couple to have their own genetic child because the nucleus contains the majority of the cell's DNA and information that determines the individual's characteristics.