Fertility News
New Fertility Treatment Method Could Help Thousands of Women Conceive - 07/03/2007
The birth of the first baby born due to a new fertility treatment was announced Monday, signaling the possibility that thousands of women unable to undergo conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment due to medical reasons may similarly give birth.
The woman's fertility was a result of ovary irregularities that characterizes Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a condition which affects the fertility of thousands of women worldwide. Women with PCOS are unable to undergo IVF because the high doses of hormones required in order to simulate the eggs can be life-threatening.
Performed at McGill Reproductive Centre in Montreal, Canada, the procedure included the extraction of eggs that had not yet matured, in contrast to IVF, in which the maturation of the eggs is required. Instead, in the new fertility treatment, eggs were exposed to various hormones before being allowed to mature in a dish. The matured eggs were then frozen and stored for a period of a few months.
The study in which the new mom took part involved 20 women with PCOS. Of the 215 eggs frozen, 148 survived and 96 were fertilized. Three embryos were implanted into each woman, who had a successful pregnancy rate of 20%. The average age of the women was 30.
In addition to helping women with PCOS, this new fertility treatment could also help women with breast cancer that is estrogen-receptor-positive. It can also be a means of preserving fertility for women who must undergo chemotherapy immediately, but who would not otherwise be able to store their eggs due to the period of 4 to 6 weeks required to retrieve eggs necessary in IVF.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
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