July 20, 2010
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 5:23 pm
For those who are in same sex relationships or single, or those who are simply in mixed-sex couples and are infertile, tying to have a child can be frustrating and discouraging. In order to avoid embarrassment, many people turn to fertility clinics for aid where they must face expensive private clinic fees or get on the extensive waiting list of the NHS.
As if this is not enough, many times they may not get the services they expect or face refusal of treatment. Many others are frustrated they cannot see the actual sperm donor for a glimpse of what their child may look like.
Men that wish to donate also often are put off by how clinical the entire approach and procedures are, instead choosing to donate in ways that are outside of the ‘system.’
Sevi Joseph has created a new service called feelingbrody.com after she had a negative experience attempting to have a child through donor insemination. She paid around £1200 each time she went through insemination, found that the entire experience was impersonal, and saw how the fertility industry passed judgment based on marital status, age, and race as well as sexual orientation.
Joseph continued to explain that nobody should be denied a child due to the fact they have made lifestyle choices that are not accepted or because of a lack of money.
Instead, she says that Feeling Brody is different because they offer personal care past subscription fees and it is important to her that they help their patients become parents through an easy and pleasant experience.
She also said that her company offers affordable home insemination supplies and high quality services as well without passing any judgment on any going through the process.
April 1, 2010
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 12:18 am
Some surprising discoveries have been made about the properties and potential uses of different drugs available to the medical profession today, but some are a little more momentous than others.
In the case of Kerry Horan, it was the conception and birth of a healthy child after years of failed attempts. The drug used in her case was Viagra, commonly known as an erectile dysfunction medication exclusively for men.
A series of tests and treatments at the Assisted Conception Unit of Calderdale Royal Infirmary as well as private agencies confirmed that there was low blood flow around her womb and that the lining was too thin to support the growth of an embryo. She also had an unusually strong immune system that was attacking the embryos as invaders.
Ms. Horan said that she and her husband had almost given up, but then she read about Dr. George Ndukwe at Care Fertility in Nottingham. After a consultation with the doctor and another series of detailed tests, she agreed to his suggestion of the experimental use of Viagra as a means of improving blood flow and thickening the walls of her uterus. After an uncomfortable nine days of treatment, tests indicated that an embryo could be safely implanted, and the result was the birth of a baby girl nine months later.
Dr. Ndukwe and others in the medical profession emphasized that Viagra was not the only treatment implemented. They all said that no one should try the drug as a fertility treatment without close medical supervision, as it is still very much in the experimental stages.
February 17, 2010
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 3:08 am
T
here is much ongoing controversy about the relative advantages and perils of ICSI, or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection. A recent study carried out at the Institute of Child Health in London seems to confirm one of the perils.
Children conceived through ICSI are more likely to have a fertility problem, which is the problem that ICSI was meant to solve in the first place.
The procedure involves injecting a live sperm into a mature egg with a micro-needle, and it has proven effective in many cases where fertilization and pregnancy seemed impossible with the ‘conventional’ approach. However, with widespread use of ICSI, won’t the fertility of future males be in jeopardy?
As a reminder that males are not the only ones with a problem, St. Andrews and Edinburgh universities have published the results of a study on female fertility. This one concluded that of the two million eggs a woman is born with, she’ll have only about 12% of that number by the time she reaches the age of 30.
February 2, 2010
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 8:23 am
It seems as if anyone can have a child so long as they have enough money, which seems to be turning society to a baby grabbing frenzy. Regardless of age, even if you are a woman that is over sixty, you can now have a child thanks to the billion dollar IVF industry.
Single and gay people can now hope to have a child due to the many advances in IVF, although moral questions seemed to be housed under another roof. A simple glance at the recent London Fertility show indicates how many ways of giving birth is available to a wide demographic of people.
You can now choose the gender of a child, screen out any genetic problems, and possibly even rent a surrogate to house your child until it is born. For single people, there are plenty of egg and sperm donors that allow you to choose everything from eye colour to intelligence.
One area that often has been recognized as an area for heartache for infertile couples is of course infertility, but no longer are IVF treatments reserved just for them. As science continues to advance many people who may have thought child bearing was never an option now can entertain the idea of raising a child.
Of course, this raises plenty of new questions within the UK about what types of legislation should be put in place to keep child bearing morally acceptable, but with many fertility clinics just a short ride away harbouring reproduction assistance will never be practical.
January 29, 2010
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 4:10 am
Scientists have defined the reason that women have a harder time conceiving later in life, apparently once they reach the age of 30 they have already used around 90% of their ‘ovarian reserve.’
Although most women will continue to menstruate and produce eggs during their 30’s and 40’s, the reservoir of eggs has decreased substantially according to the study completed by Edinburgh University and the University of St. Andrews.
Adding to the difficulty of conception is the fact that the body chooses the most fertile eggs first, which means that as women age, the eggs they have left are of a lower quality, which decreases the chance of conception and heightens the risk of a healthy birth.
The study found that most women are born with around 300,000 egg cells, but that the pool quickly decreases much faster than formally accepted.
Co-author of the study, Dr. Hamish Wallace, stated that at age 30 a woman only has 12% of her eggs left and by the time she reaches 40 about 3%. He continued to say that society as a whole has been overestimating prospects for fertility.
In general, the research pointed out that women make the mistake of believing if they are menstruating they can still conceive, but in reality the chances of conception decrease each year.
Dr. Wallace stated that information from the research could help women who are at risk of early menopause and those who have ovarian cancer since it will determine the best time to freeze eggs.
December 29, 2009
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 9:08 am
New research from Vitabonics Prengacare Conception suggests that waiting to have a child can lead to a marriage dissolving because some men and women are more focused on locating a fertile partner than finding a partner for love.
A new trend referred to as the ‘breeder relationship’ is becoming more popular as women are waiting longer to have families. Those who fall into this category often get into a loveless partnership for the sake of having a family.
These couples often settle for traits they do not like because their biological clock is warning them that time is running out. This group is much more likely to end up in failed relationships according to experts.
In these cases if a mate is unable to provide a family within a few years the mate will dump their marriage and move onto to another fertile mate in an effort to have a child.
In a survey conducted by researchers that included over 3000 men and women, over a third reported they would choose a mate based on if they could conceive over how compatible the couple was.
Out of these, 30% of men and 42% of women said that even if they found an ideal partner if they knew the person was infertile they would think again about starting a serious relationship.
An additional two thirds of those surveyed reported that they were concerned about being able to conceive naturally and that medical complications could occur if they waited too long before trying.
75% of those questioned said that if their partner had problems conceiving they would consider leaving their partner.
November 3, 2009
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 8:18 am
Researchers have been able to turn stem cells from humans into sperm and egg cells, which have allowed doctors a precious insight into what causes infertility.
New research studies allow scientists to look at how human reproductive cells are developed, from the moment that they first begin embryos on into the time when they become mature eggs and sperm.
Once scientists are able to fully understand how eggs and sperm cells grow they will be better able to develop proper treatments that will aid those who are infertile. In the future, additional research may also allow scientists to develop treatments to correct birth defects that occur before a child is actually born.
Many times men and women are infertile due to genetic glitches that occur early in the reproductive growth cycle. Although this has long been a known fact, it is has been hard to study how this may occur until recently, with the discovery of how to grow stem cells into sperm and egg cells.
Susan Shurin of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development stated that the new achievement is able to shine some light on a stage of human development that was previously hidden and unknown.
October 26, 2009
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 11:51 am
British doctors claim that they are close to succeeding with the first ever womb transplant, but the question remains how desirable the procedure would actually be.
This is not the first time that a doctor has claimed a womb transplant is possible, but it is the first time that a doctor has announced they have found a solution to securing the blood supply required.
London Hammersmith Hospital doctor Richard Smith is now looking for additional funding so that he can continue his research after failing to receive grants from the largest bodies in Britain.
The womb transplants would mainly benefit woman who are born without a womb and are thus unable to have their own children, and those whose wombs were destroyed at the hands of fibroid or cancer treatment.
At the crux of the medical research is the long standing debate of whether infertility is an actual disease, or if it is a cultural phenomenon from a society that values women by their ability or inability to reproduce.
Those that balk at the definition of infertility as a disease do so because infertility, unlike many other accepted diseases, is not fatal, and the idea of major surgery without medical cause makes many scientists wary.
The only time in the past that a womb transplant was attempted was in Saudi Arabia in 2000, when doctors transplanted a live donor womb to a young woman. Although initially it was thought to be a successful implant, lack of oxygen in the blood resulted in the removal of the womb.
