Why do some women choose to freeze their eggs for the future rather than get pregnant sooner? Two new studies have looked into the reasons behind this, and although one which questioned younger women found that they'd rather focus on their careers, the other discovered that it's the lack of a partner that drives women to make the decision when they are older.
We tend to assume that women who have children later do so because they are too busy furthering their careers when they are younger, but in fact most of the women I've spoken to who were trying to get pregnant in their late thirties and early forties are adamant that this isn't the case. For them, it was a matter of waiting for the right partner - so it's not surprising that the idea of egg freezing seems attractive.
In fact, freezing eggs is not a guaranteed insurance policy. The technology is still quite new, and it's an invasive and expensive business. Women have to go through most of an IVF cycle in order to harvest a crop of eggs, and it can take two or three goes to ensure there are sufficient eggs to freeze. If women leave it until their late thirties to decide to freeze their eggs, the chances of success will have diminished as egg quality will have begun to decline.
The studies on egg freezing were presented to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Rome and you can read more about them at www.eshre.eu
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Fertility support
I've been facilitating a number of support groups in the last few months, and have also attended some too, and at the end of every meeting I go to, I am more convinced that meeting other people in the flesh is hugely helpful to anyone experiencing fertility problems.
Online support has grown so much in recent years that most clinics have completely given up on the idea of providing a support group for patients - with one or two notable exceptions! It's a great shame, as although patients want good success rates, they also want to feel supported. Too often, patients come to the group with stories of insensitivity and lack of understanding from clinic staff. It's a great shame, as these same staff are often working flat out to improve the clinic and the treatment in every way that they can, but the little things can easily get forgotten.
Chatting to someone else online can be helpful, but actually meeting someone and talking to them is a far richer experience, and can be far more rewarding. I've yet to meet anyone who went to a support group and left concluding it wasn't for them. Once you take the plunge, you may be surprised at how much you get out of it.
Details of support groups meeting in England can be found at www.infertilitynetworkuk.com
Online support has grown so much in recent years that most clinics have completely given up on the idea of providing a support group for patients - with one or two notable exceptions! It's a great shame, as although patients want good success rates, they also want to feel supported. Too often, patients come to the group with stories of insensitivity and lack of understanding from clinic staff. It's a great shame, as these same staff are often working flat out to improve the clinic and the treatment in every way that they can, but the little things can easily get forgotten.
Chatting to someone else online can be helpful, but actually meeting someone and talking to them is a far richer experience, and can be far more rewarding. I've yet to meet anyone who went to a support group and left concluding it wasn't for them. Once you take the plunge, you may be surprised at how much you get out of it.
Details of support groups meeting in England can be found at www.infertilitynetworkuk.com
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Advance testing for menopause
Researchers have found that they can accurately predict the age at which women will reach the menopause - giving women a clearer idea about their reproductive future.
The team from Tehran tested the levels of Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) which controls the development of the follicles in the ovaries. AMH has been used as a test of ovarian reserve, or the number of eggs likely to remain in the ovaries, for some time. In this new test, blood samples were taken every three years and looked at in conjunction with information about a woman's reproductive history. The women were also given a three-yearly physical examination. 266 women were involved in the study, and the researchers predicted their menopause very accurately - on average they were just a third of a year out. More research is now needed to see if the findings can be replicated in a larger group.
The research is particularly useful for women who want to plan when to start a family, but it is vital to remember that having a later menopause does not guarantee your fertility until that point. Women are less and less fertile for years before they reach the menopause, and there are many other problems that can cause infertility. However, any new research in this field is very welcome and will undoubtedly help many women.
A press release about the research can be found at www.eshre.eu
The team from Tehran tested the levels of Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) which controls the development of the follicles in the ovaries. AMH has been used as a test of ovarian reserve, or the number of eggs likely to remain in the ovaries, for some time. In this new test, blood samples were taken every three years and looked at in conjunction with information about a woman's reproductive history. The women were also given a three-yearly physical examination. 266 women were involved in the study, and the researchers predicted their menopause very accurately - on average they were just a third of a year out. More research is now needed to see if the findings can be replicated in a larger group.
The research is particularly useful for women who want to plan when to start a family, but it is vital to remember that having a later menopause does not guarantee your fertility until that point. Women are less and less fertile for years before they reach the menopause, and there are many other problems that can cause infertility. However, any new research in this field is very welcome and will undoubtedly help many women.
A press release about the research can be found at www.eshre.eu
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Official warning on online sperm agencies
The UK's fertility regulator has just issued a warning about online donor services, after a number of media stories about agencies offering to put people in touch with potential donors.
It all sounds quite simple, but in fact there are very real risks to using this kind of service. The agencies often claim to operate in a grey legal area where they only provide an introduction, rather than eggs or sperm. Even so, many online donor services are still working on the wrong side of the law. The reason for our stringent legislation when it comes to sperm and egg donation is to keep people safe. Using an agency, you can't guarantee you get the donor you think you are paying for, you don't know if sperm samples are screened or are safe and none of the safeguards that the law provides will apply.
I think it's particularly frightening that many of these sites offer fresh sperm. In licensed clinics, sperm samples have to be frozen before use to ensure that the donor hasn't contracted any kind of infection, such as HIV, since he was last screened. With an online service providing fresh sperm, it simply isn't possible that a sample can be guaranteed to be safe.
Not only are there safety issues, using an online agency can cause huge issues in the future over legal parenthood. If a man donates through a licensed clinic, he is not the legal father of the child born through the donation. This is not the case with an unlicensed donation where, in fact, the donor would be the legal father and could be legally and financially responsible for any offspring.
It may seem an attractive idea, it may be quick, but it certainly isn't safe or sensible to use an online agency and you could be creating problems for both yourself and your future child.
The HFEA have issued at statement which you can read at www.hfea.gov.uk
It all sounds quite simple, but in fact there are very real risks to using this kind of service. The agencies often claim to operate in a grey legal area where they only provide an introduction, rather than eggs or sperm. Even so, many online donor services are still working on the wrong side of the law. The reason for our stringent legislation when it comes to sperm and egg donation is to keep people safe. Using an agency, you can't guarantee you get the donor you think you are paying for, you don't know if sperm samples are screened or are safe and none of the safeguards that the law provides will apply.
I think it's particularly frightening that many of these sites offer fresh sperm. In licensed clinics, sperm samples have to be frozen before use to ensure that the donor hasn't contracted any kind of infection, such as HIV, since he was last screened. With an online service providing fresh sperm, it simply isn't possible that a sample can be guaranteed to be safe.
Not only are there safety issues, using an online agency can cause huge issues in the future over legal parenthood. If a man donates through a licensed clinic, he is not the legal father of the child born through the donation. This is not the case with an unlicensed donation where, in fact, the donor would be the legal father and could be legally and financially responsible for any offspring.
It may seem an attractive idea, it may be quick, but it certainly isn't safe or sensible to use an online agency and you could be creating problems for both yourself and your future child.
The HFEA have issued at statement which you can read at www.hfea.gov.uk
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Chlamydia
I was talking to a journalist earlier this week about what young women can do to preserve their fertility, and came to the probably unhelpful conclusion that most of it was little more than common sense and a healthy lifestyle. However, the one thing that many young women don't think about is chlamydia, and yet it can have such devastating effects on your future fertility.
Apparently one in ten sexually active young people has chlamydia - and that's an estimate which some believe could be conservative. For up to 80% of women who have chlamydia, there are no symptoms which means people don't worry and don't get tested. It may only be years later that they discover their fertility has been compromised.
When I was writing The Complete Guide to Female Fertility I interviewed a young woman who was in her early twenties, but knew she would have to have IVF in order to conceive. She had sensibly been tested for chlamydia at an early age, but it was already too late. The infection had completely blocked her fallopian tubes (which connect the ovary to the womb, allowing eggs to get from one to the other). She was longing for a family, but was too young to qualify for IVF in her local area.
It's easy to forget about something that has no symptoms, that you may not know you have - but if you could be at risk through unprotected intercourse, it's worth having a test. It's simple and quick - and really could help preserve your fertility.
Apparently one in ten sexually active young people has chlamydia - and that's an estimate which some believe could be conservative. For up to 80% of women who have chlamydia, there are no symptoms which means people don't worry and don't get tested. It may only be years later that they discover their fertility has been compromised.
When I was writing The Complete Guide to Female Fertility I interviewed a young woman who was in her early twenties, but knew she would have to have IVF in order to conceive. She had sensibly been tested for chlamydia at an early age, but it was already too late. The infection had completely blocked her fallopian tubes (which connect the ovary to the womb, allowing eggs to get from one to the other). She was longing for a family, but was too young to qualify for IVF in her local area.
It's easy to forget about something that has no symptoms, that you may not know you have - but if you could be at risk through unprotected intercourse, it's worth having a test. It's simple and quick - and really could help preserve your fertility.
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Indian triplets for 66-year old mother
I've just been reading about the triplets born to a woman of 66 in Northern India. Her doctor seems rather proud to announce that she is the oldest woman in the world to give birth to triplets. This was apparently her third attempt at IVF and she had three embryos transferred as the two embryos put back in the earlier cycles had failed to implant. The three babies are now in intensive care as they are very underweight.
The treatment was carried out at the same clinic in Haryana where a woman of 70 who became the world's oldest mother was treated. The clinic seems to specialise in treating pensioners and the website is quite bizarre, featuring pictures of elderly couples next to tiny babies. In India, the average age expectancy for a woman is 66 and it's even younger for a man, so the clinic are helping to create babies whose parents are highly unlikely to live past their first few years. And surely carrying three babies and then having a Caesarean at 66 is hardly going to increase your life expectancy...
It's stories like these that have to make you glad that we have such a highly regulated system in the UK, and that our fertility doctors consider what is right for potential parents and children when they are making decisions about treatment, rather than the desire to break new ground in totally unethical territory.
The treatment was carried out at the same clinic in Haryana where a woman of 70 who became the world's oldest mother was treated. The clinic seems to specialise in treating pensioners and the website is quite bizarre, featuring pictures of elderly couples next to tiny babies. In India, the average age expectancy for a woman is 66 and it's even younger for a man, so the clinic are helping to create babies whose parents are highly unlikely to live past their first few years. And surely carrying three babies and then having a Caesarean at 66 is hardly going to increase your life expectancy...
It's stories like these that have to make you glad that we have such a highly regulated system in the UK, and that our fertility doctors consider what is right for potential parents and children when they are making decisions about treatment, rather than the desire to break new ground in totally unethical territory.
The French Study...
You may have heard about "The French Study" over the last few days... It has been quite widely reported in the media as it shows that there is a small risk of malformation for children born after IVF. The study looked at more than 15,000 IVF children's health records and found that 4.24% had some kind of congenital malformation. It sounds incredibly alarming, and is enough to worry anyone considering IVF.
As usual with these stories, there is a however... First, this needs to be put into perspective, as in the general population who have not had IVF, there is a risk of up to 3% of congenital malformation so the increased risk is very small. Second, although you may not have been aware of this, previous studies had put the figure of congenital malformation after IVF as high as 11%, so this is actually a lot better than many scientists had expected. The French researchers believe their figure is more likely to be correct because this was such a large study.
This is certainly an issue that needs further investigation, and makes the case for more long-term follow-up studies of children born after assisted conception. At the same time, it is important to understand that this increased risk is very small. If you do have worries about it, you should talk to the team at your clinic. See more here
As usual with these stories, there is a however... First, this needs to be put into perspective, as in the general population who have not had IVF, there is a risk of up to 3% of congenital malformation so the increased risk is very small. Second, although you may not have been aware of this, previous studies had put the figure of congenital malformation after IVF as high as 11%, so this is actually a lot better than many scientists had expected. The French researchers believe their figure is more likely to be correct because this was such a large study.
This is certainly an issue that needs further investigation, and makes the case for more long-term follow-up studies of children born after assisted conception. At the same time, it is important to understand that this increased risk is very small. If you do have worries about it, you should talk to the team at your clinic. See more here
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