Clinic Offering Free Donor Egg IVF Cycle at Seminar

The Genetics & IVF Institute (GIVF) in Fairfax, Virginia (in the Washington, DC suburbs) is offering a free educational seminar on donor egg IVF at the McLean Hilton in McLean, Virginia on January 16, 2010 from 10:00AM to 12:30PM. Come listen to Dr. Laurence C. Udoff, a board certified reproductive endocrinologist, and Dr. Harvey Stern, a board certified geneticist, talk about the medical aspects of this treatment option. GIVF's donor egg counselor also will discuss the emotional and personal aspects of donor egg IVF. Meet an actual egg donor.

One seminar attendee will receive a single donor egg IVF cycle at absolutely no cost and all attendees will receive a 15% discount on the base fee on donor egg IVF contracts signed after January 16, 2010. For more information or to register visit this page. GIVF is planning a series of educational seminars in the Washington DC area and elsewhere. Those interested in notices about these seminars should sign up here.

Reproductive Toxicology

By: Amy Erickson-Hagen, MS Reproductive Physiology

Likely there are things you remember from various stages in your education like being the line leader, square dancing in gym, or senior skip day. However, the lab next to my lab in graduate school studied environmental effects on frogs. Phthalates were the main compounds found in the environment causing effects such as additional limbs, deformed genitalia and much more. One specific Phthalate is Bisphenol A (BPA) which has been getting press about its presence in water bottles and possible effects on miscarriage and sexual function. Phthalates are xenoestrogens which are industrially made compounds that have estrogenic effects and differ chemically from estrogens which are naturally occurring, produced by living organisms. It is believed that Phthalates can last in the environment for over 70 years.

Phthalates are used mainly in plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability and longevity. They are being phased out of many products in the United States and European Union (EU) over various health concerns. However, last time you looked on a product was it made in the US or EU? Probably not! Therefore it is still a concern to people living in the United States.

Phthalates are used in a large variety of products, from coatings of pharmaceutical pills and nutritional supplements to adhesives and glues, building materials, personal care products, medical devices, detergents, packaging, children's toys, waxes, paints, printing inks, pharmaceuticals, food products, and textiles. Phthalates are used in a variety of household applications such as shower curtains, vinyl upholstery, adhesives, floor tiles, food containers and wrappers, and cleaning materials. Personal care items containing phthalates include perfume, eye shadow, moisturizer, nail polish, liquid soap, and hair spray. They are also found in modern electronics and medical applications such as catheters and blood transfusion devices. Just about everywhere you turn.

After graduate school I...

1. Stopped wearing nail polish with Phthalates -spent the extra $2 to get Phthalate free.
2. Never microwave plastics or freeze anything in plastics. Phthalates leach more from plastics when exposed to increased temperatures.
3. Rarely eat anything canned - just buy frozen veggies. The linings of cans commonly contain Phthalates. FYI, You can find frozen mandarin oranges if you really look (that was my canned good weakness).

An Often Overlooked Infertility Cause

STD's can cause fertility problems, which frequently go under or miss-diagnosed. Chlamydia is the most common STD in America, affecting more than a million people each year. Unreported cases could easily double this figure. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Chlamydia can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which in turn can cause a variety of fertility problems. Women who are considering getting pregnant are encouraged to get tested to rule out any problems. Chlamydia can be detected with a urine test.

Infections can be persistent for years, with minor side effects that can mask its presence. Women are more likely to have an infection than men, but both should get tested. The article points out that Chlamydia can be treated effectively with a quick round of antibiotics, so there's no reason not to take action so you can rule this potential fertility problem out!

Drinking and IVF Don't Mix

A study presented recently at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) suggested that alcohol consumption decreases IVF success rates. The researchers questioned 2,574 couples undergoing IVF treatment. Couples who consumed over six alcohol units (two pints of beer or two large glasses of wine) per week were significantly less likely to become pregnant. Women were 18% less likely to have a successful IVF cycle, while men reduced their chances of success by 14%. The negative effects were particularly strong for women who consumed white wine and men who consumed beer. Based on these findings experts advise couples to avoid alcohol three months prior to an IVF cycle.

The lead researcher of the study, Dr. Brooke Rossi, stated "there are many factors why IVF fails and most of these patients have no control over. But how much they drink is something that they can change." The results of this study also suggest that alcohol consumption may decrease pregnancy rates in all couples attempting pregnancy, even those without specific fertility issues.

Assisted Hatching Benefits in Question

Assisted Hatching, a common procedure performed during an IVF cycle in which the zona pellucida (ZP- outer layer of the egg) is thinned or breached, was the subject of a recent scientific study. 121 women were involved in the randomized, double blind study, which was published in the Journal Fertility and Sterility. The women were younger than 38 years and had embryos with a ZP thickness of ≥13μm. Rates of clinical pregnancy, implantation and live births were compared. Surprisingly, the results showed no significant differences between the group that had the hatching procedure and the control group.

Previous studies have had conflicting results. According to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the procedure is still considered useful in cases with a poor prognosis. Women with previous history of ≥2 IVF failures, poor quality embryos, and women aged ≥38 years should be considered candidates for assisted hatching.

Strict Fertility Laws Cause Flight to Other Countries

According to a recent study, thousands of British women are traveling abroad to have fertility treatments that are not available in the UK. Over 40 European clinics were surveyed about their patient demographics, including country of origin and reason for traveling to receive the treatments. It is estimated that over 20,000 European patients travel outside their countries for fertility treatment. The largest populations came from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, France and the UK; and traveled to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.

The number one reason provided was to avoid home country legal restrictions around fertility treatments. Many European countries have enacted widespread restrictions and regulations that have had predictable side effects. UK sperm and egg donors are no longer allowed to be completely anonymous or compensated, which quickly lead to a shortage of donors. There are currently long waiting lists for free National Health Service (NHS) treatment and seventy-five percent of IVF procedures are performed privately in the UK. Many UK women traveling for treatment were over forty, at which age women cannot access IVF through the NHS.

The studies authors hoped policy makers will consider these findings when introducing future fertility legislation.

New Test for Endometriosis

The results of a new test to detect endometriosis were recently published in the journal Human Reproduction. Endrometriosis is a painful condition that affects up to 10% of women. This medical condition is characterized by endometrial like cells which flourish outside the uterine cavity and are influenced by hormonal changes. The main symptom is pelvic pain and it can be associated with infertility. Doctors traditionally rely on an invasive laproscopic procedure to diagnose the condition, requiring anesthesia. The new test can be done in a doctors office with a simple swab being taken and sent out for analysis. The swab is taken from the lining of the uterus (endometrium) and is performed vaginally. The swabs are analyzed for presence of nerve fibers, which has a high correlation with having endometriosis. Although the sample size for this study was small, it does represent the possibility of a much better technique for diagnosing a condition that affects millions of women each year.