The next frontier in reproductive tourism? Genetic modification

TheConversation: The birth of the first baby born using a technique called mitochondrial replacement, which uses DNA from three people to “correct” an inherited genetic mutation, was announced on Sept. 27. Mitochondrial replacement or donation allows women who carry mitochondrial diseases to avoid passing them on to their child. These diseases can range from mild to life-threatening. No therapies exist and only a few drugs are available to treat them.

Five traps to be aware of when reading success rates on IVF clinic websites

TheConversation: A recent review of in-vitro fertilisation treatment (IVF) clinics in Australia, conducted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), identified some misleading ways they present people’s chances of a having a baby on their websites. Clinics provide IVF success rates in often confusing ways because there is no agreed format on how this information should be presented. Our recent audit, presented at a recent conference of the Fertility Society of Australia, reviewed the success rates published on the websites of IVF clinics in Australia and New Zealand. It identified some common traps in the way these figures are presented. Below are five things consumers should be aware of when visiting IVF clinic websites.

Online calculator to predict IVF success

Scimex: VF online calculator predicts individualised chances of couples having a baby  The tool is relevant for individual couples, clinicians, funders and policy makers  Writing in The BMJ today, researchers describe a new calculator that has been developed to estimate the individualised chances of couples having a baby, both before and after first IVF treatment, and over multiple cycles.  Available online, the calculator considers specific characteristics of couples and treatment information to predict cumulative chances over up to six IVF (in vitro fertilisation) or ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) cycles. 

IVF invention bringing new hope to families

Adelaide: Couples undergoing IVF, where the female partner is 25-41, who have had at least two embryo transfers without implantation, poor embryo development or at least one miscarriage, are able to participate in the BlastGen trial. For more information, contact Fertility SA on 8100 2900. Women who have been struggling to start a family for years are finally getting pregnant thanks to a world first in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, developed by researchers at the University of Adelaide.

Time-lapse systems for embryo incubation and embryo assessment for couples undergoing IVF

Cochrane: We reviewed the evidence for time-lapse systems (TLSs) for embryo incubation and embryo assessment for couples undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

IVF culture medium influences birth weight

Maastricht University. Netherlands: The composition of the culture mediums used to grow human embryos during IVF treatment affects the birth weight of newborns.

UK first country to approve laws to allow the use of IVF-based technique to reduce the risk of mitochondrial diseases.

Newcastle University. UK: Last night the UK became the first country to approve laws to allow the use of a ground-breaking IVF-based technique to reduce the risk of mitochondrial diseases.

MPs vote to give the go-ahead to three-parent IVF

NHS. UK: “In an historic move, MPs have voted in favour of the creation of babies with DNA from two women and one man,” BBC News reports. The UK is set to become the first country to license the technique known as three-parent IVF, which could potentially be used to prevent babies being born with mitochondrial diseases. Many researchers welcomed the news.

Thousands of UK women could benefit from 'three-person' IVF

NHS. UK: "Thousands of women could benefit from 'three-parent' baby technique," The Independent reports. A modelling study estimated the technique, which is currently illegal, could be used for thousands of women with genes linked to serious mitochondrial DNA diseases. The news is especially topical as it was announced today that parliament is set to vote in February about whether to make the technique legal.

Two and a half thousand women could benefit from mitochondrial donation in the UK

Newcastle University. UK: Almost 2,500 women of child-bearing age in the UK are at risk of transmitting mitochondrial disease to their children, according to the most recent estimates published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The research offers the most recent evidence yet of how many families could potentially be helped by new IVF techniques to prevent mitochondrial disease, which would be permitted by new regulations on which a vote in parliament is imminent.

Nordic IVF outcomes improving - is the same true for the UK?

NHS. UK: "The health of artificially conceived children has steadily improved in the last 20 years," The Guardian reports. Researchers who analysed data from Nordic countries described the decline in premature and stillbirths as "remarkable". This was the main finding of a large cohort study comparing the health of babies born using assisted reproduction technology (ART), such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), with those conceived naturally over the last 20 years.