Over 50s have no increased risk using donor eggs

New research from the States suggests that women over the age of 50 who use donor eggs to get pregnant have no more complications than younger egg recipients. Older women are generally thought to be at greater risk of pregnancy complications such as diabetes, premature birth, placenta abnormalities and hypertension, but this study looked at 100 women who were over 50 and compared them with women who were under 42. In fact, the rates of gestational diabetes, hypertension, Caesarean delivery and premature birth were similar for women in both age groups.

Although there is a greater risk of obstetric complications for anyone using donor eggs, these don't seem to increase in older women. The study is published this month in the American Journal of Perinatology. You can read more about it on the Columbia University Medical Center website.

Mixed Blessings

I've just been reading a great new booklet from the Donor Conception Network written for anyone who is creating a family that includes children conceived without the help of a donor and also children conceived with donor sperm and/or eggs - hence the booklet title 'Mixed Blessings'.

The Donor Conception Network had seen an increasing number of families in this situation, or considering donor treatment after having a first child either naturally or with treatment such as IVF or ICSI. It was apparent that they wanted specific help and information, and that's the reason the booklet was written.

It has a reassuring common sense tone, and not only gives lots of practical advice and information, but also includes the experiences of a number of parents. Their situations are all very different but their stories help explain the many reasons why people may have a family where their children are conceived both with and without donor gametes.

I'd really recommend this booklet if you're in this situation - you can download it through the Donor Conception Network website here.

Three parent IVF...

The papers have dubbed it "three parent IVF" which is likely to send the anti-IVF brigade off on a familiar rant but in fact a new technique currently being investigated could prevent serious genetic conditions being passed from mother to child. The HFEA has launched a consultation into the process, which replaces the faulty genetic material in the mother's egg, to consider whether the technique should be offered.

The new technique involves using a donor egg and taking out the nucleus, which is replaced with the nucleus from the mother's egg. The faulty material, which is contained in the rest of the contents of the egg, is therefore eliminated which means that the resulting embryo should be healthy. The donor would only have a limited genetic link to the child as the crucial nuclear DNA would still be inherited from the mother.

Scientists are still investigating the technique which has the potential to prevent diseases that are currently incurable and a change in the law would be necessary in order for it to be offered to patients.

You can read a statement from the HFEA about the consultation at www.hfea.gov.uk

New research on how many embryos to transfer

There has been some interesting coverage today of the study published in The Lancet about how many embryos should be transferred during IVF treatment. Sadly, some of it does illustrate a lack of understanding about current practice and the move towards single embryo transfer.

The research in the Lancet found that the difference in chances of success between single embryo transfer and transferring two embryos was much greater for women of 40 or more and so recommended that there should be some flexibility in the decision about how many embryos to transfer for older women. Interestingly, the researchers found that transferring three embryos did not increase the chances of a live birth in women of any age.

This new research has been used to suggest that the move towards single embryo transfer is somehow flawed, but in fact the research backs up very well the current policy in the UK which is that single embryo transfer is recommended for those who are most at risk of twins - in other words, younger women with a good prognosis. Single embryo transfer would usually only be suggested for women of 40 and above when using donor eggs. IVF success rates for women in their forties are not high, but the age of the donor is the deciding factor when women are using donated eggs.

You can read more about the research on the Lancet website.

IVF blunders

It's every IVF patient's worst nightmare - to discover that something has happened to the precious eggs,sperm or embryos that you have left at the fertility clinic. The news that a couple from Wales had lost all their donated eggs after an accident at the clinic is heartbreaking - the highs and lows of infertility are hard enough to cope with and it is hard to imagine how utterly devastating this news must have been.

The despair of the couple must also have been felt by the member of staff responsible - can you imagine how awful it would be to know that you might have ruined a couple's only chance to have a baby? It was clearly a mistake, and human error is something we can't ever eliminate entirely, What's really worrying about this story though is that it happened at the same clinic where we recently learnt that stored sperm was mistakenly destroyed. It may be an unfortunate coincidence, but fertility patients will be rightly anxious about entrusting their precious gametes to a clinic which seems to have a less than perfect record on this front. One can only hope that all procedures at the clinic have been reviewed to minimise the chances of anything like these two incidents happening again.

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