Monday 18 October 2010
Donor eggs for black women
As more and more people who need donor eggs consider travelling abroad to avoid long waiting lists at many clinics at home, there is good news for black women from Barbados Fertility Centre. They've been actively recruiting donors locally for some time, and are now in the position of having more donor eggs from black women than they have potential recipients. This may be of great interest to black British women who often face incredibly long waits for treatment with donor eggs in the UK. You can find out more about the clinic and the treatment they offer at www.barbadosivf.org
Monday 4 October 2010
an interview later...
I've just done an interview for LBC radio about IVF funding, which they'd linked to Robert Edwards getting the Nobel prize. It's such a shame that on the day one of our country's greatest scientists gets awarded for his ground-breaking work, we end up discussing how to cut all funding for an amazing treatment that was invented here. We carry out less fertility treatment in the UK, and considerably less funded treatment, than most of the rest of Europe - and yet this was a field in which we once led the world.
It always fascinates me when I do these interviews that there is a general assumption that the NHS is funding huge amounts of treatment at the moment, when in fact that isn't the case at all. It's a tiny percentage of the NHS budget and cutting it would cause such distress. Today the person interviewing me equated IVF with breast-enlargement operations for teenagers - it seems to get worse by the day...
It always fascinates me when I do these interviews that there is a general assumption that the NHS is funding huge amounts of treatment at the moment, when in fact that isn't the case at all. It's a tiny percentage of the NHS budget and cutting it would cause such distress. Today the person interviewing me equated IVF with breast-enlargement operations for teenagers - it seems to get worse by the day...
IVF pioneer honoured at last!
What fabulous news that Robert Edwards, the scientist behind the birth of world's first IVF baby, has finally received a Nobel prize!
It has always rather mystified me that Robert Edwards hasn't received a Nobel prize for medicine in the past. His work has led to the birth of millions of IVF babies around the world, and has allowed many couples who would never otherwise have been able to conceive to have families of their own. Working with Patrick Steptoe, he'd been widely criticised for his work, with much scepticism about IVF from the medical profession as well as the church and the general public.
It's just a shame that they waited so long to honour him, as he is now 85 and not at all well. I went to interview him a few years ago, and I know how much he would appreciate finally receiving this prize. He explained to me that his conviction had allowed him to continue his work despite all the opposition, and that had led him to develop what has now been recognised as "a milestone of modern medicine".
It's not often that you meet someone whose life is really inspiring, and who you feel quite humbled to have the opportunity to speak to. Robert Edwards is a wonderful man, passionate about helping those with fertility problems and this is a truly well-deserved, if somewhat tardy, recognition of all that he has done. And on a personal note, it has cheered up my day no end!
Read more here
It has always rather mystified me that Robert Edwards hasn't received a Nobel prize for medicine in the past. His work has led to the birth of millions of IVF babies around the world, and has allowed many couples who would never otherwise have been able to conceive to have families of their own. Working with Patrick Steptoe, he'd been widely criticised for his work, with much scepticism about IVF from the medical profession as well as the church and the general public.
It's just a shame that they waited so long to honour him, as he is now 85 and not at all well. I went to interview him a few years ago, and I know how much he would appreciate finally receiving this prize. He explained to me that his conviction had allowed him to continue his work despite all the opposition, and that had led him to develop what has now been recognised as "a milestone of modern medicine".
It's not often that you meet someone whose life is really inspiring, and who you feel quite humbled to have the opportunity to speak to. Robert Edwards is a wonderful man, passionate about helping those with fertility problems and this is a truly well-deserved, if somewhat tardy, recognition of all that he has done. And on a personal note, it has cheered up my day no end!
Read more here
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