Articles | IVF technique 'doubles successes'

IVF technique 'doubles successes'

Published: Monday, 26 January 2009, 6:09PM

Fertility specialists in the UK have made an IVF breakthrough which could more than double the chances of a patient getting pregnant.

For the first time they have been able to screen eggs for chromosome abnormalities without freezing them first.

The screening method could also minimise the incidence of miscarriage and birth defects as well as increase success rates.

Up to half of eggs in younger women, and up to 75 per cent in women over 39, are chromosomally abnormal.

A 41-year-old British woman, who had suffered two miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy, is now expecting a baby using the technique.

Dr Simon Fishel, from Care Fertility Group, said the milestone demonstrated the "wonderful ingenuity of human kind."

He added: "One of the main reasons why IVF doesn't work is chromosomal abnormality.

"Full chromosome analysis offers huge hope to many couples who have a poor chance of conceiving, those who have had many failures, and for those who want to maximise their chance at each attempt. We now have the best tool for achieving this."

Tony Rutherford, chair of the British Fertility Society (BFS), said: "The technology certainly offers much promise.

"However, whilst the BFS supports the application of new technologies such as array CGH, it is absolutely essential that these new techniques are subject to further rigorous research, and should only be offered to patients within the context of a robustly designed clinical trial, carried out in suitably experienced centres."

Around 6,000 babies a year are born in the UK to otherwise infertile couples as a result of IVF.