Are you interested in giving your views on the sort of information people need when they're considering fertility treatment. The HFEA are looking for people who would be willing to spare an hour to give their views - and they'll even pay you for it.
Find out more below...
The HFEA needs your views
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority Authority (HFEA) is developing a new publication for people who are considering fertility treatment.
What can you do?
We are looking for people who are considering or have had fertility treatment to attend a focus group in London on Wednesday, 3 February at 5:30pm to 6:30pm. You will be paid £50 for your time.
This is your chance to tell us what you think about our new publication and help others thinking about treatment.
Interested?
Email sharon.neaves@hfea.gov.uk with your name and a contact number. Please also tell us a little about what stage you are at with fertility treatment.
Your travel expenses will be reimbursed after the focus group. Everything you say will be treated confidentially.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Monday, 25 January 2010
New support group for British Asians
You may have read here before about the new infertility support group planned for British Asians. Things are now progressing, and the first meeting looks likely to be in March. It will be in Central London. If you'd like to know more, email katebrian@infertilitynetworkuk.com
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Rocking embryos!
Well, this is a weird one - scientists have discovered that if you rock embryos gently during the IVF process, pregnancy rates improve. So far, the experiments have only been done on mice, but the results are promising.
When embryos are fertilised in the body in the normal way, they move all the time for the first day or two as they go down the fallopian tube and into the womb where they implant. During IVF, the eggs are left in a dish in an incubator and don't move at all. So, the team at the University of Michigan invented a device to gently rock embryos during IVF, and it increased pregnancy rates by 22% in mice. They believe it worked because the embryos that were gently rocked felt more at home. Trials in humans have now begun.
You can find out more about it at www.ns.umich.edu
When embryos are fertilised in the body in the normal way, they move all the time for the first day or two as they go down the fallopian tube and into the womb where they implant. During IVF, the eggs are left in a dish in an incubator and don't move at all. So, the team at the University of Michigan invented a device to gently rock embryos during IVF, and it increased pregnancy rates by 22% in mice. They believe it worked because the embryos that were gently rocked felt more at home. Trials in humans have now begun.
You can find out more about it at www.ns.umich.edu
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Fertility crisis?
The Mirror is asking if Britain is in a fertility crisis... I thought perhaps they'd discovered something new or exciting, but there's not much in their feature that anyone with a fertility problem wouldn't know already, and a lot of the article focuses on age-related fertility problems.
It always fascinates me that with so much emphasis now on age-related issues, many GPs are still telling women in their 20s who are concerned about not getting pregnant that they are "too young" to be worrying about it. In fact, if you discover you've got a fertility problem in your 20s, you have a far better chance of being able to sort it out with treatment than you do if you are older. Maybe it's time for doctors to read the papers! See www.mirror.co.uk
It always fascinates me that with so much emphasis now on age-related issues, many GPs are still telling women in their 20s who are concerned about not getting pregnant that they are "too young" to be worrying about it. In fact, if you discover you've got a fertility problem in your 20s, you have a far better chance of being able to sort it out with treatment than you do if you are older. Maybe it's time for doctors to read the papers! See www.mirror.co.uk
Why should the NHS fund IVF?
Anyone who wonders why the NHS should fund IVF should read this moving letter printed in the Cambridge News
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Age limits for IVF?
So, should a woman of 59 be offered IVF treatment? The story has been widely covered this week - a woman who already has a young child conceived in Russia is now looking to have a second child using a donor egg, and this time a London clinic has offered to treat her.
It's always a controversial issue, and raises hackles on both sides of the argument. Should you set a mandatory upper age limit for women to have a family if you don't set one for men? Why do we seem to think it is so wrong for women to have children in their fifties, when a man becoming a father at that age would not raise many eyebrows? There is of course no question of the NHS funding treatment for a woman of 59, so do we have a right to intervene if she is happy to pay and a clinic is happy to treat her? However, the most important issue here is the welfare of the child and the mother. Pregnancy and giving birth at 59 carry all kinds of age-related risks for them both. And is it fair for a child to have a mother who will be 70 by the time he or she reaches 10? What do you think?
You can read more on the story here
It's always a controversial issue, and raises hackles on both sides of the argument. Should you set a mandatory upper age limit for women to have a family if you don't set one for men? Why do we seem to think it is so wrong for women to have children in their fifties, when a man becoming a father at that age would not raise many eyebrows? There is of course no question of the NHS funding treatment for a woman of 59, so do we have a right to intervene if she is happy to pay and a clinic is happy to treat her? However, the most important issue here is the welfare of the child and the mother. Pregnancy and giving birth at 59 carry all kinds of age-related risks for them both. And is it fair for a child to have a mother who will be 70 by the time he or she reaches 10? What do you think?
You can read more on the story here
ESHRE says women who drink too much should be refused IVF
There's been a lot of interest today in the statement issued by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) about alcohol and IVF. ESHRE has advised that women who drink any more than moderately and do not cut back on their alcohol consumption should be refused fertility treatment. This is because there is evidence that excess alcohol consumption can make it harder to conceive, can increase the rate of miscarriage and can have a serious impact on a baby's future health.
In general, moderate drinking for a woman is considered to be no more than two or three units a day, with a couple of alcohol-free days in the week. For women trying to conceive, however, or for those who are pregnant, the advice is not to drink at all or to have a maximum of one or two drinks a week.
The ESHRE statement also looked at smoking and obesity, both of which can have a considerable impact on your chances of getting pregnant and staying pregnant. It was suggested that doctors should help patients make any necessary lifestyle changes before treating them. I suspect the reality is that the vast majority of those going through fertility treatment will be only too willing to make every lifestyle change that they can in order to increase their chances of success.
You can read more about the statement at www.eshre.com
In general, moderate drinking for a woman is considered to be no more than two or three units a day, with a couple of alcohol-free days in the week. For women trying to conceive, however, or for those who are pregnant, the advice is not to drink at all or to have a maximum of one or two drinks a week.
The ESHRE statement also looked at smoking and obesity, both of which can have a considerable impact on your chances of getting pregnant and staying pregnant. It was suggested that doctors should help patients make any necessary lifestyle changes before treating them. I suspect the reality is that the vast majority of those going through fertility treatment will be only too willing to make every lifestyle change that they can in order to increase their chances of success.
You can read more about the statement at www.eshre.com
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