IVF

Gingrich proposes investigation of IVF clinics

Michael Cook | 01 February 2012

Bioethics is playing a walk-on role in the drama of the Republican primaries. Newt Gingrich has expressed his opposition to abortion and embryonic stem cell research and has called for an investigation of practices in IVF clinics. He believes that human life begins at conception.

UK IVF clinic destroys donated eggs

Jared Yee | 03 December 2011

A UK couple are distraught after a blunder at IVF Wales in Cardiff. Chris and Lorraine were told over the phone on the evening they returned from IVF Wales in Cardiff that a batch of eggs had been accidentally destroyed. The couple had been trying to have a baby for seven years. Earlier this month, the clinic was slated for mistakenly destroying sperm donated by cancer patients about to be treated.

US man sues over girlfriend’s theft of sperm

Michael Cook | 26 November 2011

An angry Houston man has accused his former girlfriend of stealing his semen and using it to create twins with the help of an IVF clinic without his consent. She then sued, successfully, for child support. He is suing the IVF clinic over the cost of child support and his mental anguish.

Court will hear IVF benefits

Jared Yee | 25 November 2011

The US Supreme Court will hear a case about whether children conceived through IVF after the death of a parent are eligible for Social Security survivor benefits.

One in five IVF procedures are in women over 40

Jared Yee | 25 November 2011

More older women than ever are using IVF in the UK.

Austrian restrictions on IVF upheld

Michael Cook | 19 November 2011

The European Court of Human Rights has upheld an Austrian ban on sperm and ova donations. By a vote of 13 to 4, the Court’s Grand Chamber declared that the ban did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights.

61-year-old IVF mum admits age limit should be 50

Jared Yee | 12 November 2011

When Susan Tollefsen, 61, became one of Britain’s oldest first-time mothers by using IVF at age 57, she was widely criticised.

What is the ideal number of parents? 2? 4? 5?

Michael Cook | 15 October 2011

How many parents is too few, or too many, or just right? Dr Kamal Ahuja, a well-known IVF specialist at the London Women’s Clinic, once declared “The definition of a traditional family is progressively fading… Families of the future may combine up to five parents. Regardless of culture, the evidence is that children adapt well and it’s the quality of the nurturing environment which is important.”

Women as young as 18 seek Internet sperm donors

Jared Yee | 15 October 2011

While IVF was initially intended for women whose biological clocks had run out or who could not conceive naturally, some young women are seeking sperm donors because they have not found the man of their dreams.

Divorcee can use ex’s embryos: Argentina ruling

Jared Yee | 01 October 2011

A judicial ruling in Argentina said last week that a woman can use frozen embryos fertilised with her ex-husband’s sperm to get pregnant again.

IVF linked to genetic disorders

Jared Yee | 01 October 2011

A geneticist at the University of Toronto has called for more research on the link between IVF and rare genetic disorders.

Italian court rules couple “too old” for daughter

Jared Yee | 23 September 2011

A court in Italy has ruled that a 70-year-old father and a 57-year-old mother of an IVF toddler are “too old” and selfish to raise their daughter, and has urged them to give her up for adoption, Italian media reported last week.

Radio station condemned for IVF giveaway

Jared Yee | 23 September 2011

A Canadian radio station has been denounced as “unethical” and “insulting” for hosting a “win-a-baby” competition Ottawa’s Hot 89.9 promised to fund three cycles of IVF to the listener who makes the best case in 100 words or less.

Egg freezing now viable option, says British expert

Michael Cook | 08 September 2011

Egg freezing has become a viable option for younger women who want to delay having children, says IVF specialist Gillian Lockwood in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine (subscription required).

Egg freezing blurs “experimental” label

Jared Yee | 27 August 2011

For many women, freezing eggs is an uncertain business. Few women who have frozen their eggs a race against the clock have tried to use them, according to John Jain, of Santa Monica Fertility in California.

California couple sue IVF doctor over ‘lost’ embryos

Jared Yee | 25 August 2011

Alex Walterspiel and Melanie Waters, a married couple in their 30s, conceived their 3-year-old son through IVF and hoped to have a second pregnancy using one of the remaining frozen embryos.

Australian minister’s IVF child provokes IVF debate

jared Yee | 20 August 2011

IVF is in the headlines in Australia again after Federal Finance Minister Penny Wong announced last week that she and her lesbian partner Sophie Allouache are to have a baby.

The gut-wrenching dilemmas of “foetal reduction”

Jared Yee | 20 August 2011

Foetal reduction is the dark side of the moon of fertility treatment. All too often women who become pregnant have twins or triplets. Since this involves medical and social risks, one or more of the foetuses are “reduced”, ie, aborted. It is a procedure which few outside the industry are aware of. Freelance journalist Ruth Padawer has just written a feature in the New York Times Magazine shedding light on its bioethical dilemmas.

US surrogacy expert convicted of baby-selling

12 August 2011

World first as Israel court allows egg extraction from deceased woman

Jared Yee | 11 August 2011

An Israeli court has allowed the parents of a dead 17-year-old woman to remove her eggs for future use.