Fresh donor eggs make for success!

Embryo freezing is a unique opportunity for women to postpone pregnancy indefinitely and give birth to a biological child in later years. Freezing oocytes woman has no need to worry about medical or social difficulties in her life. That is to say, woman buy the so-called "guarantor of age” freezing own biological material. But the question now arises of whether clinics provide a guarantee conducting IVF programs using frozen oocytes. 

That is an important issue that must be thought of. It will be less complicated and cheaper if doctors use frozen eggs during IVF procedure. But if at all people think about oocytes cryopreservation being 20 - 35 years old. Today there are a lot of women who start a family only after 30 when probability of pregnancy is greatly reduced. In such cases, egg donation steps into the breach. Thus, Spanish “Bernabeu Institute” is the leader of egg donation in Europe. It is also one of the largest banks of oocytes and sperm in Spain which sells clinics for reproductive medicine frozen cells. Despite popularity of cells freezing experts and statistics makes people wonder.

Female germ cells are large and contain water. So after their cooling (in particular, freezing) crystals are formed and distort integrity of gametes. As a result, due to cell homeostasis disturbance most part of biological material cannot be used for fertilization. Also there can be cells’ defects which are not visible during transplantation. Such degeneration of genetic material can significantly affect health condition of children in future.

Chairman of American community of Reproductive Medicine states: "Although analysis of literature shows that cryopreservation technique is effective for women who need it for medical reasons we cannot use it widely to plan pregnancy".

There are clinics that conduct IVF programs using only fresh eggs, and what is the most crucially, give a guarantee of a positive program’s outcome. Use of fresh eggs is the key to success! 

 Only one conclusion can be seen after reading various forums and communicating with patients who have gone through IVF with donor eggs. It’s better to apply to clinics that conduct programs using only fresh oocytes, guarantee successful pregnancy and full refund in the case of procedure’s failure. One can find such medical centers in Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria. In these countries IVF with donor eggs will cost you about 10 thousand euro. Russia, Greece and Spain offer such procedure at the cost of 20,000 euro, USA - 50-100 thousand euro. Paying this money you receive medical program, 100% guarantee of its successful outcome and refund in the case of failure.

Measure of efficiency and performance bond are the first indicators patient pays attention to visiting medical institution. If clinic refunds the overall value of the program in the case of failure it means clinic is interested in successful fertilization no less than client. Therefore such medical centers use the latest techniques and modern equipment.

Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the best sources of information in such case. Friends who have already visited any clinic can share their impressions about the quality of services and pricing. Well, if you have no such friends, thematic forums will always come to the aid. People who chat with each other using Internet forums will gladly write up about their positive and negative experience, comparison and results of the programs.

Psychological Aspects Deciding to Use Donor Eggs

Choosing a program of egg/sperm donation infertile couples often face with rather difficult emotional situations. For both men and women it can be difficult to accept the fact that their child will have a set of foreign genes. Nevertheless using donated eggs or sperm can be a wonderful choice for couples who have been down the difficult road of unsuccessful infertility treatment. Each situation often leaves couples with unfulfilled dreams, intense disappointment and feelings of grief, sadness, anger and exhaustion. Making the choice to use third party reproduction offers the possibility of being pregnant and having a child who has a genetic connection to one of its parents. As in any major life decision, there are issues and feelings to consider.

Choosing a donor is a very emotional process for many couples. Couples will want to discuss what characteristics and traits are most important to them in a donor and to understand their feelings about using a donor. Some couples are very focused on finding the perfect donor who looks most like the recipient. However, it is impossible to know how the combination of genes will express themselves in the child. Worries about being able to bond with the child usually occur at the beginning of this process. As a pregnancy progresses, worries about bonding usually diminish. However, feelings related to the loss of and longing for the genetic connection may recur at times. These are normal feelings and do not mean that you are not bonded with your child.

One of the most important and sometimes most difficult issues that couples confront is that of sharing their family building information with others and with their child. At first the information shared is about the pregnancy, but ultimately it is information about your child and your family. Obstetricians, pediatricians and close family members and friends are usually those with whom couples feel comfortable sharing this private information.

Whether to share this information with your child can be a source of anxiety for some couples. Some couples are fearful that if the child knew that donor gametes were used that it would harm and diminish the parent-child bond. Others want to protect the child from the pain this knowledge might cause them. It is important to weigh these fears against the burdens of keeping such an important secret. Sharing this information gives a loving and affirming message about your desire to have this child and your openness and resilience as a family.

There are many issues and feelings to explore in making the decision to use third party reproduction. Working through these issues and feelings will allow you to make an informed choice and pursue a new vision of building your family with greater ease. On the clinical end, psychologists are helping ART clients prepare for and handle parenthood when it comes. Encouraging clients to engage early on in stress reduction, support groups and couples counseling helps not only during treatment, but once a baby comes, note specialists.

Fears can be especially strong if a baby is the product of donor sperm, eggs or both, doctors add. In fact, it often takes time for couples unsuccessful with IVF to decide to use donor gametes.

For those who decide to take this route, experts help them to grieve the biologically, genetically shared child they had hoped for and to imagine and work through how they'll feel once their child is born.

"People need to figure out how they'll react when people say things like, 'Whose eyes does this child have?'" doctor says.

In any case parents who decided to use ART, egg or sperm donation in particular, must gird up their loins and love child as he will be their own one. Parents-to-be can visit pre-entry courses and have consultations by professional psychologist. Starting the medical program couple should clearly understand their baby will see the world in 9 months and he has already chosen a lovely family. So parents have no right to throw doubt upon child’s genes. Couples who use ART must know and remember that child born with the help of assisted reproductive medicine is their own beyond a shadow of doubt.  

 Source http://www.resolve.org/

What does genetic mother feel using services of surrogate mother?

Today surrogate mother can carry a child who genetically will be related to parents who can not give birth naturally. Doctors spermatize mother’s egg with father’s sperm in vitro and then transfer embryo into the womb of a surrogate mother. Thus, strange healthy woman will only carry your child and will have no relation with a newborn. But is it easy to come to terms with the fact that stranger carried your child during 9 months and felt all aspects related to childbirth? We spoke with a psychologist and asked whether there is a difference between relation concerning child of mother who gave birth and those one who receive a baby from surrogate mother. 

Psychologist: Yes, it can be a certain difference. There are cases when parents who have used services of surrogate mother experience a certain jealousy related to this woman. Sometimes biological mother ask herself: “Maybe she is also a mother of my child, maybe she is more mother than I can be, after all, maybe my child received something from her child on genetic level, etc. In such cases, I always reassure parents and explain that such child will definitely get something - hormones, food, etc., but nothing more! Sometimes biological parents are beware of the fact that surrogate mother can get away with their child. It’s important to remember - if you go through the program in the accredited clinic that works on a legal basis according to the local laws and norms, there will be no problems with surrogate mother and the whole process. As clinic and its staff are interested in program’s success and child is taken away from surrogate mother immediately after birth and they have any contacts between each other. So, some families have such rueful feelings but I'm not talking about all of them.

Taking into account your experience in this topic, can you tell us how quickly contact between genetic mother and child born by surrogate mother is established?

Psychologist: In general, it depends on parents and training, which they must pass before child’s birth. In any case, this child is more than a long-awaited. It’s very important for parents to realize and understand full blast that child is the main member of the family, parents love him and they will take care of him. Of course, the fact that genetic mother did not go through all physiological sensations that woman who carried a child pass, can affect a little the inner feelings, and as a result, behaviour of biological mother. But, special courses, consultation with a good psychologist and just an inner attitude of mind and awareness of the fact that you are parents and reply for your child’s life will help to overcome any difficulties associated with the surrogacy process. In addition, experts always advise not to maintain close contacts with a surrogate mother and not try to be with her friends. It will minimize some jealousy, fears, etc.

Birth of so long-awaited baby is a great happiness and life continuation. So do not spend your energy and emotions for jealousy and fears concerning woman who gave birth to your child! It will be better to expend positive emotions and time in your beloved own child!

Glow confronts male infertility in reproduction app

Fertility app developer Glow turned its attention to men with a new app section that confronts issues relevant to this audience.  But will it lead to more men taking an active role in addressing this sensitive issue?

The smartphone app helps users log daily activities and lifestyle information, then analyzes the data to give men personalized, information to make more informed decisions, according to a company statement.

Glow is the latest company to turn its attention to men for reproductive issues. Another company is Sandstone Diagnostics. It developed a test called Trak Fertility in 2013 to help men with low sperm count turn things around with educational content and a way to assess their sperm count over time.

Glow also added partnerships with infertility clinics Boston IVF and Shady Grove Fertility.

In about 40 percent of infertility cases, men are the sole cause or a contributing cause,according to data from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. But men are less likely to seek medical help than women. The idea behind Glow’s new app features is to make men more comfortable dealing this issue and encourage them to be more involved in the counseling process.

“Unfortunately fertility struggles aren’t always considered a couple’s issue, even though male infertility accounts for about 40 percent of cases,” Glow CEO Mike Huang said.

Last year the company raised $17 million in a Series B round to support the global expansion of its business.

http://medcitynews.com/

Chances of IVF success 'futile' for women over 44, says study

Women should be advised to have IVF with donor eggs instead of their own when they reach the age of 44 to boost their chances of success, fertility doctors have said.

Researchers in Spain found that the chances of women having a baby through IVF was only 1.3% in those aged 44 and above, but stood at 24% in those aged 38 to 39.

Dr Marta Devesa at the Hospital Universitari Quirón-Dexeus in Barcelona, Spain, said the dramatic decline in live births could be avoided if older women froze their eggs by the time they reached 35, or used donor eggs, which come from younger women.

“Women of 44 or older should be fully informed about their real chances of a live birth and counselled in favour of egg donation,” she told the European Society for Human Reproduction meeting in Lisbon on Tuesday.

Her comments come in the wake of a 12-year study of live birth rates, involving more than 4000 women at the hospital, revealed the sharp decline in success rates among women in their mid-40s. The findings revealed that among 40 to 41-year-olds, the IVF success rate was 15.6%, a number that dropped to 6.6% in those aged 42 and 43.

“There is a clinically relevant decline from 41 to 42 – but the prognosis is really futile from 44 and onwards,” Devesa said.

Doctors familiar with the study said that many women may be unaware of the crash in fertility that occurs beyond the age of 35, while some could be fooled into unrealistic expectations by media stories of celebrities starting families in their 40s.

The fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, has long publicised very similar success rates from UK clinics. According to their figures, a woman’s chances of having a baby through IVF stand at 32% under the age of 35 and fall to 1.9% once she is 45 or over.

Stuart Lavery, a consultant gynaecologist at Hammersmith hospital said that many women were likely to be shocked at the sharp decline in fertility among women in their early 40s. The drop in fertility is thought to be caused by genetic damage that builds up in older eggs. The latest figures, he said, could help promote more “realistic expectations” among older women who hoped to start a family.

Adam Balen, chairman of the British Fertility Society, said: “Whilst you hear lots of good news stories about celebrities who may have given birth at an older age, nobody knows the number of celebrities who may not have been able to have babies, either because of infertility or possibly even having had fertility treatment that has been unsuccessful.”

http://www.theguardian.com/

Rosie O’Donnell asks surrogate to carry a baby for her, and then cancels when the baby has special needs

There’s a problem with things like IVF and surrogacy: it turns children into products to be bought and sold, and then thrown away when the “product” turns out to be defective. The latest case in point comes from lesbian comedienne Rosie O’Donnell.

O’Donnell and her ex-wife, Michelle Rounds, had hired a surrogate, Jamie Weaver, to carry their first daughter, Dakota. They then asked her to carry a second baby, but when O’Donnell found out the baby had some medical issues, she cancelled the adoption.

Dakota’s biological mother, Jami Weaver, had agreed to carry another child for the couple but their arrangement was canceled when O’Donnell learned the child had gastroschisis, which is a birth defect of the abdominal wall that causes the bowl to protrude into the abdomen. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), about 1,871 babies are born each year in the United States with gastroschisis. Weaver explained,
“Rosie told me she could not handle having a special needs child.”

Just curious, Rosie: what would you do if your daughter, Dakota, got into an accident of some kind and now had to live with some kind of disability? Since apparently Rosie “can’t handle” kids with “issues,” it would be interesting to see if that attitude is applied to her born child, as well as the preborn.

Finally, this sad story illustrates part of the problem with surrogacy. Women who volunteer to carry babies are often treated as if they are slaves— as if their bodies belong to the parents they are carrying for. Weaver wanted to have a tubal ligation, and didn’t do so upon O’Donnell’s request. She thought she might have to have an abortion just because the baby was a boy. And when the baby Weaver was carrying was “faulty,” O’Donnell abandoned both the baby and Weaver. Weaver does not disclose what happened to the little boy she was carrying, leaving one to worry that he became the victim of a late-term abortion, after O’Donnell backed out of the adoption.

We need to remember that all people, including those who have not been born yet, are human beings with worth and dignity. They are not products to be bought and sold; they are not things that we can own and throw away at will.
http://liveactionnews.org/

Mother loses bid to use dead daughter's frozen eggs to give birth to grandchild

A mother has lost her bid to use the frozen eggs of her dead daughter so she could give birth to a grandchild, after a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence this was her late daughter’s wish.

The unnamed 59-year-old woman and her husband, 58 – whose daughter died from cancer aged 28 – had challenged a regulator’s refusal to allow them to transport the frozen eggs of their “only and much-loved child” to a US fertility treatment clinic.

Describing what he said was “a very sad case”, Mr Justice Ouseley said the decision was partly due to a lack of paperwork: no document existed that explicitly detailed the daughter’s dying wish to have a child with her mother acting as a surrogate.

There was no evidence, Ouseley added, that the daughter had also considered vital matters like “the implications on her mother’s health, or the implications of her mother acting as a surrogate, namely that her mother would be the legal mother of her daughter’s child”.

Fearing further cancer treatment might leave her unable to have children, the daughter initially had her eggs frozen in 2008 and discussed surrogacy with her mother because she hoped she would live to raise the child herself. She was not married and had no partner, but having a family was “incredibly important to her”, her mother said.

As her illness became more severe, the daughter signed a form saying she did not want her eggs to perish in the event of her death and said they should be stored for 10 years. However, there was a separate form, requesting instructions on what should happen to the eggs, which she never completed.

Her mother had argued that she had told her she wanted her to carry any babies, and said she intended to have the eggs fertilised by an anonymous sperm donor. In a statement to the court, the mother, referred to as Mrs M, described a conversation with her daughter: “[She said] ‘They are never going to let me leave this hospital – the only way I will get out of here will be in a body bag. I want you to carry my babies. I didn’t go through IVF to save my eggs for nothing.’”

A pregnant cousin, who visited the daughter in hospital, said she had feared upsetting her sick relative. But Mrs M said in her statement that her daughter believed her frozen eggs were already her children. “‘I already have my babies, they are on ice,’” she is said to have told her cousin.

However, a close and loving relationship with her parents did not mean A [the daughter] had consented to them making all these decisions, Ouseley said.

IVF Hammersmith, where the eggs were stored, said Mrs M’s request to carry her daughter’s child went “beyond what a patient may have consented to, and we cannot assume these were her specific wishes”.

Ouseley ruled that the daughter, who died of bowel cancer in June 2011, had not given the required consent.

Dismissing the couple’s claim at the high court in London, he said he was “conscious of the additional distress which this will bring to the claimants, whose aim was to honour their daughter’s dying wish for something of herself to live on after her untimely death”.

The judge added that the decision to deny the procedure was not made because of Mrs M’s advanced age or any moral dispute over a mother acting as a surrogate for her dead daughter’s child.

A New York clinic had indicated it would provide the £60,000 fertility treatment with donor sperm, but the case came to court after the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) refused to issue a “special direction” allowing the eggs to be released from storage at Hammersmith hospital for export to the US.

The HFEA had argued the daughter had died without giving written consent allowing her mother to act as a surrogate.

The mother said in her statement to the court that her daughter had “wanted her genes to be carried forward after her death”. She had her eggs frozen after her diagnosis at the age of 23. Her parents said she regarded the eggs as “living entities in limbo waiting to be born”.

The judge ruled there was no certainty she consented to her mother carrying a future surrogate child on her behalf, or that she understood the implication of her asking for that to occur.

Ouseley said he had been persuaded there had been no breach of the parents’ human rights and refused permission to appeal, saying he was not convinced it would have much prospect of success. The parents do, however, have the right to appeal directly to the court of appeal.

The HFEA’s statutory approvals committee decided in 2014 that there was insufficient evidence to show the daughter wanted the eggs used in the way her parents suggested after her death.

It is thought that if the case had been won, Mrs M could have become the first woman in the world to become pregnant using a dead daughter’s eggs.

An HFEA spokeswoman said: “This is a very sad case, and the ruling must be heartbreaking for the couple. The case was about whether the couple’s daughter had given fully informed consent for her mother to use her eggs after her death.

“Our committee considered this case on three separate occasions, considering very carefully the new evidence given each time, but decided that there was not the kind of fully informed consent required by the law.”
http://www.theguardian.com/