Single embryo IVF with genetic screening has high success rates

The transfer of one pre-screened embryo during IVF leads to birth rates equivalent to transferring two unscreened embryos, indicates new research from the USA. Preliminary results presented at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Annual Clinical Meeting revealed that single embryo transfer combined with preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) resulted in fewer twin pregnancies and better health outcomes for both mother and child. 'Single embryo transfer with comprehensive chromosome screening has the potential to be paradigm-shifting and revolutionary in the world of IVF', explained lead researcher Dr Eric Forman, of Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey (RMANJ) at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. 'Patients can do single embryo transfer and maintain excellent delivery rates while not taking on the treatment-related risk of multiples', he added. Infertility treatment currently accounts for 18 percent of twin deliveries in the USA. However, multiple pregnancies carry increased health risks to the mother and child. In the study 175 women aged 43 or younger received either a single pre-screened chromosomally normal embryo or two unscreened embryos. Results so far indicate equivalent pregnancy rates in the two groups. No twins resulted from single embryo transfers whereas 53 percent of double embryo transfers led to multiple pregnancies. At present only ten percent of women in the USA opt for an elective single embryo transfer. Dr Forman noted that most women choose to have multiple embryos transferred because they feel that this improves their chances of becoming pregnant. However, as more people become aware of the success rates of single embryo transfer, its popularity as a treatment option may increase. 'The technology exists today to make single embryo transfer the standard of care across age groups, eliminating the vast majority of complications stemming from IVF, while maintaining excellent delivery rates for couples who have struggled with infertility', explained Dr Forman. PGS adds an extra cost to fertility treatment in the USA and research is ongoing at RMANJ to establish whether in the USA this cost is offset by the reduced healthcare burden associated with lower risk singleton pregnancies. Article: 13th May 2013 www.bionews.org.uk

The single women who wish their sperm donor children knew their fathers

There is no doubt Freya McCallin was a wanted child. That she will always be loved unconditionally by her mum and large extended family is also incontrovertible. But there is another significant truth about Freya: she will never know her genetic father. Indeed, as Freya’s mum Jessica travelled to Copenhagen from her home in South London to be inseminated with the donor sperm that produced her daughter, this omission from her child’s family tree was the one concern that preyed upon her mind. For sperm donors in Denmark — unlike those in the UK who may be contacted by their offspring when they reach 18 — have a legal right to remain anonymous. Men who donate sperm there can’t be traced by any potential offspring. This explains why the sperm donation industry in Denmark is the largest in the world, and why increasing numbers of British women are travelling there to undergo the quick and relatively inexpensive procedure that endows them with the greatest gift of all: creating a new life. It also helps to explain why, because of seismic shifts in Britain’s fertility landscape — highlighted in last week’s Femail magazine cover story — the shape and make-up of our nation’s families is changing irrevocably. 'My concern is that the need to know who your father is, even if he has no meaningful role in your life' Today, in part two of our investigation, we examine some of these new ‘diverse’ families, and speak to the single mothers — all professionals with degrees — who are raising donor children without fathers. In last week’s dispatch, we interviewed educated women who have remained childless; either from choice or because they deferred motherhood in favour of their careers, only to find out they had passed the age of fertility. As our report showed, the consequences have been dramatic: middle-class Britain is having fewer and fewer children, with larger families increasingly the preserve of the poorer and disadvantaged. But the rise in middle-class women remaining childless is not the only factor at work here. Since 2008, when the law changed to allow single women to be donor inseminated, small, self-contained and fatherless family units like Jessica and Freya’s are burgeoning. There are now two million lone-parent families in the UK — they account for one in four of the nation’s families — and rising numbers of them are headed by educated, middle-class women. Many of these, forced by the ticking of their biological clocks and their failure to find the right partner, have procreated by non-traditional methods such as sperm donation, egg donation and IVF. Because typically these women are deferring motherhood until they are 35 when their fertility is in perilous decline, they are often having just one child. It is also financially very exacting to raise a child alone. That is another reason why Middle England is producing fewer offspring. And why, conversely, poorer households — because benefits rise in line with the size of their family — who have relatively little to gain from limiting their fertility, are growing. But what will be the emotional fall-out for this new generation of donor children who grow up without knowing their fathers? This is one of the great imponderables in this brave new world of diverse families. ‘The urge to discover our roots and our relationship with those who have provided half of our DNA is elemental, says Adrienne Burgess, joint CEO of the Fatherhood Institute. ‘The literature is clear: some donor children are haunted by their situation and go searching.’ Jessica McCallin, a writer and broadcaster from South-East London, chose a Danish donor for her daughter Freya because her family originates from the north of England, an area conquered by the Norsemen, and it seemed reasonable to assume she had Scandinavian ancestry. She knew it would also be helpful to her child if she shared her blonde hair and blue eyes — as indeed Freya does. 'Not a day goes by when I don’t agonise about the consequences of my actions' Whether her daughter will be troubled by not knowing her father’s identity, she cannot say. Read more... Article: 8th May 2013 www.dailymail.co.uk

Fertility diet: high protein and low carbs linked to pregnancy

"What should I eat in order to boost my fertility?" It's one of the first questions asked by many women hoping to get pregnant: A new study offers up one possible answer, claiming that women who ate a diet rich in protein and low in carbohydrates while undergoing in vitro fertilization had higher pregnancy rates than those whose ratio of protein to carbs was the inverse. But the findings, while provocative, are highly preliminary. "Protein is essential for good quality embryos and better egg quality, it turns out," study researcher Dr. Jeffrey Russell, director of the Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine, said in a statement. His research was released at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' annual clinical meeting in New Orleans on Monday. Patients whose protein intake represented 25 percent or more of their daily diet, and whose carbohydrate intake was 40 percent or less, had pregnancy rates four times higher than those who ate less protein and more carbs while undergoing in vitro fertilization (the joining of a woman's egg and a man's sperm in a laboratory before transferring the resulting embryo to her womb). Researchers asked 120 women undergoing IVF to keep a three-day nutritional journal before they had an embryo transfer. Forty eight women had an average daily protein intake greater than 25 percent, while 72 had an average intake under 25 percent. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is generally recommended that people get between 10 and 35 percent of their daily calories from protein.) There were no differences in body mass index (a measure of weight relative to height) between the two groups, and because of that, the researchers concluded that improving fertility may be linked to specific nutritional components in a woman's diet, more than to her overall BMI. But Dr. Kathy Hoeger, Director of the Strong Fertility Center at the University of Rochester, N.Y., said that other factors might have affected the outcomes among the high-protein, low-carb group. Hoeger did not work on the new study. "We don't have enough information about other factors," she told The Huffington Post. "The question about high protein, low carb is still very uncertain with regard to fertility," Hoeger added, explaining that good scientific research on the links between diet and fertility is scant. Much of what is known has been extrapolated from preliminary animal studies, and the mechanisms that link nutrition and egg quality are not well understood. But the desire for more information is there, evident in the numerous books, blog posts and articles on the topic. "As a practicing fertility doctor, probably the first question every one asks me is, 'What should I be eating?'" Hoeger said. "Clearly this is something on people's minds." Perhaps the most scientifically rigorous information available comes from a 2007 study, led by researchers at Harvard University, that used data from more than 18,000 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study, one of the longest-running investigations into women's health in the U.S. Those findings were detailed in the much-hyped book "The Fertility Diet," which offered dietary guidelines for preventing and reversing ovulatory infertility (but not infertility resulting from issues like blocked fallopian tubes). According to the Harvard researchers, women should avoid trans fats and focus on the quality of the carbohydrates they eat, opting for fiber-rich foods and avoiding simple sugars rather than restricting the quantity of carbs. Researchers also found that women who had more full-fat dairy products in their diets were less likely to have problems getting pregnant than those who opted for skim or low-fat options. Article: 6th May 2013 www.huffingtonpost.com Read more about nutrition and boosting fertiliy at www.prideangel.com

Liverpool's fertility clinic is having to buy sperm from Manchester

Liverpool's fertility clinic is having to buy in sperm from Manchester because its stocks are so low. Professor Charles Kingsland, head of the Hewitt Fertility Centre based at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, said that a change in the law had led to a drastic decline in donors. Prof Kingsland said: "It’s not just our stocks that are low, it is all stocks because the law concerning donors changed some years ago. Now donors only get reasonable expenses as opposed to getting paid and they can no longer remain anonymous." The drop in donors began in 2005 when people donating sperm and eggs no longer had the right to remain anonymous or be entitled to payment. Now couples face a wait of over a year before a donor becomes available. The clinic has been buying sperm from other sources including Manchester Fertility Services and a private clinic in Harley Street, London. Couples have also had to buy sperm themselves on the internet from reputable clinics in the US and Denmark. Now the clinic is opening a second site in Knutsford, Cheshire, and has launched a campaign to encourage more men to help infertile couples. Prof Kingsland said: "We have the technology. We are offering success rates that even ten years ago were unheard of. Now we need to replenish our sperm bank." "With this campaign we just want to raise awareness. And the enormous benefit for the donor is that they really are helping couples get that longed-for family." Read more about known sperm donation at www.prideangel.com Article: 7th May 2013 Pride Angel

The Myth of ‘Morning’ Sickness

It was a Friday, the day the pregnancy test was positive. Day 29 of my cycle, fifteen days after insemination. A drab August day. The rain drizzling down the window panes seemed incongruent with my mood, but I was struggling to identify my mood at all. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t wished for a positive test. It was exactly what we’d been hoping for, of course. And it had happened much sooner than expected. A huge success. But it was a strange feeling and I skulked around the house, not sure what to do with myself. I didn’t feel any different from the previous day, week, month. Yet somewhere deep inside me, a complex manufacturing process was taking place: cells were dividing and multiplying, and something microscopic yet undeniably human was starting to take shape. I was on holiday from work and normally I’d be getting on with something or other: odd jobs around the house, some lesson preparation ready for the new school term…but now I was four weeks pregnant and it didn’t seem right just to carry on as usual. But what do you do when you’re four weeks pregnant? What you don’t do when you’re four weeks pregnant is tell anyone. I knew that rule well enough, so after an excited text to my partner, Sally, I put my phone aside and (perhaps it was the effect of the miserable weather) found myself a ‘helpful’ chart on the Internet showing the percentage risk of miscarriage at each week of pregnancy. After a brief period of amazement that even to make it thus far, our little embryo had defied the odds of 3:1, in that same rain-inspired spirit, I focused on the 10% chance that I would still miscarry – a 10% chance that wouldn’t go down to 5% until we were to hear a heartbeat. And when would that opportunity arise? When placed on my lower abdomen, Sally’s stethoscope was sadly lacking in the ability to detect anything other than a rather embarrassing set of noises emanating from my intestines. The next couple of weeks were exciting, secretive and notably uneventful. Sally encouraged me to stock up on tasty snacks: eating regularly would prevent me from lacking in energy and feeling sick and I dutifully snacked away, attributing a vague trembling in the legs or a slight rumble of the stomach to dangerously low levels of blood sugar. The August Bank Holiday Weekend arrived, and Sally and I were at Manchester Pride. It was the Sunday, about 5pm and wandering the busy stalls I suddenly felt as though I might be sick. I’m not generally a very sickly person and I’d forgotten what nausea felt like. Confident that food was the answer, Sally led me to the row of burger vans while I shuffled along behind her, clocking alleyways and dingy corners where I might vomit unnoticed. A couple of hours later, after slowly picking at a baked potato and beans, the blandest food I could find, the nausea faded. We found some friends, gave the usual imaginative excuses for my glass of lemonade, and settled down to relive our early childhood, watching Toyah Willcox in Sackville Gardens. Over the next few days the nausea would turn up in time for afternoon tea and make itself at home for the evening. By the following weekend it had come to stay and save for, ironically, half an hour when I first woke up, ‘morning’ sickness became my main daily activity, the day punctuated by attempts to force down various food items and galloped trips to the toilet for retching – no actual vomiting at this stage. I eventually settled on a fairly consistent diet of breadsticks, boiled eggs, small pieces of very mild cheese and watermelon. September arrived and it was time to return to work for the new school term. The mere notion of teaching five classes of teenagers each day, followed by time spent planning lessons and marking their books seemed laughable in my current condition. Nevertheless, left with little choice, I armed myself with a roll of pedal bin liners and motion sickness wrist bands and, after guiltily confessing all to the school management, got on with it – albeit slipping out into the corridor now and again with a bin bag for a tactical retch, and surreptitiously shoving small cubes of cheese into my mouth as Year 11 exited, and Year 10 came in. The worst time was always the evenings, and while this meant I generally managed fairly well where work was concerned, poor Sally got me at my worst each day. Arriving home from work at 7.30pm, she would usually find me lying as still as I could on the bed, perhaps emitting a faint moaning sound. Little would change until I’d wake up in the middle of the night, feeling almost normal and wondering whether beginning a nocturnal life was the answer. Sally put aside her fears that she’d be stuck with this new miserable, retching girlfriend for life and focused her time on reading voraciously about pregnancy and obsessively sending off coupons for free stuff. It seems there are no trial-sachet lengths that companies will not go to in order to get the custom of mothers-to-be, and we were soon stockpiling sample packs of stretchmark lotions, nappy creams, fabric conditioner and even packs of nappies and the occasional towel. Meanwhile both my nausea and my fury that no one had given me any kind of realistic warning about what the nausea would be like were both coming to a peak. I was ready to do serious damage to the next person who suggested my problems might be solved by the consumption of ginger. I’d moved on to hot school dinners at lunchtime which were going down quite well, and at least providing me with some vegetable intake, but I was now vomiting every evening, and by nine weeks I stopped bothering to eat at all after 3pm; it was just a waste of good food. At school rumours of my pregnancy were already rife: much to my bafflement, it seems wearing motion sickness bands during the working day is an obvious sign of pregnancy to today’s Year 11 girls. I would hear whispers as I arrived at my classroom door, “you can see it, look!” and I’d hold my tummy in as well as I could, and make sure my top was covering the extender clip on my trousers. Despite having lost five kilogrammes and having had to remove my rings from my fingers before they slipped off, there was now a slight bump becoming noticeable, although only really obvious when I was naked. At twelve weeks the midwife came to visit. After a rather amusing moment where she asked for Sally’s genetic history, and we had to remind her of the use of donor sperm, she asked me to lie flat on my back while she prodded my tummy with some midwifery device. And there it was, a heartbeat, inside me, that wasn’t my heartbeat. Suddenly I felt an amazing sense of relief – until now, no one else had offered any confirmation that I was actually pregnant. I’d done the test myself and then felt sick. People just believe you, but what if it had all been in my head? Anyway, it wasn’t – there was something inside me that wasn’t me. Something alive, and in a week’s time at the scan, we’d get the further confirmation – that this creature was a baby. Article: 5th May 2013 by Lindsey, West Yorkshire

Women should not turn to sex with sperm donors to have a baby

TV show ‘This Morning’ recently discussed women turning to sex with sperm donors in order to have a baby. Sally Windsor joined Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on the sofa on Thursday and said more and more women are turning to websites where men offer natural insemination, as they believe they have a better chance of conceiving. Sally explained that she herself once considered using the websites as she wanted to have a baby. She said: "As woman we can do this if we want to, there's no more of this idea of sitting back and waiting to become parents - that's a little bit archaic. "We can take things into our own hands. If a woman wants to become a mother and they haven't met the right person, there's no sitting around feeling sorry for themselves. ‘Sperm banks are inaccessible and these are the lengths women are going to.’ said Sally Windsor Also joining in on the debate was Kelly Rose Bradford who argued that women should never resort to sperm donor websites, as it's not fair on the child. "(The websites are) bringing conceptions and starting a family down to scouring the internet for sperm," she said. Kelly Rose also highlighted the safety risks involved in using the sperm donor websites. "I would question why these men are offering these services, it's almost like it's just some kind of sexual gratification for them." "It's very different to have a plan in place and go into this situation which could potentially put your health at risk, could potentially put your life at risk, because you don't know who you are meeting." Erika co-founder of Pride Angel says "Women should not go down the route of natural insemination as a method of conception. If a donor is pushing this form of conception then his motives for creating a child are not the right ones." "A minority of donors may suggest this form of conceiving over home insemination, saying that it is more effective than artificial insemination. However this is simply not true, home insemination performed correctly at the right times of the month, is just as effective and sometimes more effective for achieving pregnancy." Pride Angel is the only sperm donor website which screens all profiles and does not allow sperm donors to offer natural insemination or request payment for sperm. Erika said "The majority of our donors genuinely want to help someone create a new life for all the right reasons." Article: 2nd May 2013 www.u.tv

Leading Documentary Company Wants to Hear Your Co-parenting Story

Are you a UK-based co-parent, searching for a parenting partnership, or going through a co-parent pregnancy? If so we'd love to hear about your journey to parenthood. Award-winning television company Windfall Films is researching a documentary about modern families and co-parenting. At this stage, we'd simply like to talk and this won't commit you in any way to taking part. Many new kinds of family are being created now. If you're interested in reflecting thriving modern families as they actually exist today, please do get in touch. Windfall Films has a trusted reputation and proven track record in making sensitive documentaries for all major broadcasters. Our programmes have not only won awards but many have been used to help train doctors, social workers, and teachers: www.windfallfilms.com For a chat, confidence guaranteed, please contact producer Kim Duke: kimduke@windfallfilms.com or 07966 139582 Alternatively contact us at Pride Angel for more information. Article: 1st May 2013 www.windfallfilms.com