The Donor Network Alliance (DNA) is working with fertility clinics and donor agencies to post their egg donor profiles at no charge. This will enable DNA to quickly expand what is already the largest and most diverse database of its kind in the United States. “This is a win-win situation for both Intended Parents and our Donor Programs,” said Joel Brodsky, COO of DNA. DNA’s expansion will help Intended Parents breakthrough the barriers that currently exist in the marketplace because they typically navigate many sites to find just the right egg donor which is time consuming and disjointed. DNA already has over 5000 egg donors from twenty three leading agencies around the United States pooled into one easy-to-use website (www.donornetworkalliance.com). DNA is an advocate for Intended Parents and has created its web based platform to simplify the search process for these Intended Parents. The Donor Network Alliance Team will be attending this year’s annual ASRM meeting in Denver from October 24-27th.
The Donor Network Alliance (DNA) is the largest website that posts egg donor profiles for Intended Parents. DNA is the only website that aggregates egg donor profiles from the largest egg donor programs throughout the United Sates. To date, DNA hosts over 5000 egg donor profiles and will be adding gestational surrogates in the coming weeks. “DNA recognizes that many of those in search of an egg donor also need a gestational surrogate as well to help build their family,” said Nancy Block, CEO of The Donor Network Alliance ( http://www.donornetworkalliance.com ). DNA will utilize its current technology and platform to add a database of gestational surrogates which already has significant interest from current members and others in the fertility community. Intended Parents will greatly benefit from this service as it will simplify their search for a gestational surrogate with a streamlined process that takes out the confusion and uncertainty.
Very interesting study on the correlation between baby boys born through IVF
(Sept. 28) — Test-tube babies are more likely to be boys, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales reviewed the records of approximately 13,400 babies born in Australia and New Zealand since 2006 whose parents used in vitro fertilization and found that 56.1 percent of the children were boys.
“When you convert that to sex ratio at birth, that’s around 128 boys to 100 girls — that’s quite significant,” Jishan Dean, a doctoral student who participated in the research, told the Australian Associated Press.
The study, published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, does not offer an explanation as to why in vitro fertilization, or IVF, seems to increase the odds of having a boy.
As of 2006, an estimated 3 million children had been born with the assistance of IVF since Louise Brown became the world’s first so-called test-tube baby in 1978.
To read the entire story, click here: http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/in-vitro-fertilization-leads-to-more-baby-boys-study-finds/19652617
Doctors and scientists are still learning about what effects in vitro fertilization may have on the health of children. But a new study of children’s test scores provides evidence that IVF conception “does not have any detrimental effects on a child’s intelligence or cognitive development,” the author says.
Read the article:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/23/news/la-heb-ivf-20100923
Researchers at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island have built an artificial human ovary that can grow oocytes into mature human eggs in the laboratory. That development, reported in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, could help preserve fertility for women facing chemotherapy or other treatments.
Read the article:
http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2010/09/ovaries
UK Report: Women up to the age of 44 should be given free IVF, an expert said, as a new report showed demand for the treatment is on the rise.
IVF is undergoing a huge global expansion, particularly in developing countries, and thousands of couples cross borders every year to access treatment or find egg and sperm donors.
Data has revealed hundreds of British women go abroad every month for fertility treatment, due to restrictions on accessing it on the NHS and the high costs of IVF.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ixIcA9imLd-WX0E-RCAPNcs3NYuA
Facebook can be a frustrating place to hang out when you’re dealing with infertility. When you’re surrounded by fertile friends and family, the pregnancy announcements, new baby pics, and baby shower invites can hurt. And if you woke up to a negative pregnancy test, only to read on Facebook your cousin whining about her morning sickness? Ya. It can suck.
But you can add some fertility friendly (and infertility compassionate) voices to your news feed.
http://infertility.about.com/b/2010/09/06/facebook-fertility-pages-you-should-like.htm
by Robin von Halle
A recent New York Times article highlighted the difficulties faced by tennis star Gigi Fernandez after she discovered a long and rigorous tennis career had left her infertile. Her athletic accomplishments are impressive, but she admits that she was selfish as a young athlete, ignoring signs that her body was being affected by her intense training. Excessive exercise can lead to ovulation dysfunction, something most women ignore but a sign that their fertility could be affected.
Compounding the issue was Fernandez’s age. Pro athlete’s most fertile years are often spent focusing solely on their careers, and thoughts of future spouses and families are pushed to the wayside. After retiring at 33 Fernandez finally met the perfect partner, golf star Jane Geddes, but waited five years before deciding to have a child. Now in her late thirties, the odds were against her.
Seven unsuccessful fertility treatments and two failed adoptions later, Fernandez and her partner Geddes felt defeated. Luckily for them, hope came in the form of a friend who offered to donate her eggs. In early 2009, Fernandez and Geddes welcomed twins into their family, but it wasn’t without a struggle.
Fernandez is far from the first women to struggle with infertility after a successful athletic career. Olympic ice skater Nancy Kerrigan was able to give birth to a son after six miscarriages. Olympic swimmer Dara Torres went through IVF and artificial insemination but was unable to conceive and became a spokeswoman for American Infertility Association.
Where many women go wrong is neglecting to realize the effects of age on fertility. After age 35, a woman’s ability to conceive begins to decrease. After 40 it drops severely. More and more women are focusing on their careers, athletic or not, and putting off starting a family. Unfortunately, nature doesn’t wait for a successful career. I hope hearing stories like these will alert more women to the risks of waiting too long to start a family.
Fernandez’s advice to young women is to start planning for motherhood in their 20s, when fertility problems are much more rare. I couldn’t agree more.
We love to see positive stories about the joys of surrogacy because far too often the media focuses on the less common negative ones. In this heartwarming video, Gina Scanlan shares her experiences as a gestational surrogate for two couples.
Part 2: fertility drugs, synchronizing the cycles and pregnancy.
By Mary Ellen McLaughlin
Once a candidate passes the psychological screenings and physical exam and has chosen her intended parents, she is ready to get started on actually becoming a surrogate. Medically, there is a lot to learn, and that can be scary if you don’t know what’s coming next.
The first step in this stage is the hysteroscopy (HCG), which is a visualization of the uterine cavity through a thin scope inserted through the cervix. This determines the shape and size of the uterus and whether the fallopian tubes are clear. She also goes through a series of infectious disease testing. This is done to ensure that all parties are clear of transmittable disease such as AIDS, herpes, hepatitis, etc.
Once the tests come back, the surrogate is ready to go through a mock cycle, which puts her on the same drugs that she’ll be on for the real transfer (except Lupron), so her physician can check her uterine lining’s response to estrogen replacement. The doctor also performs a trial transfer, where the angle of the cervix and the length of the uterine cavity are measured. This determines how far to insert the catheter loaded with the embryos for exact placement.
If all goes well, the surrogate and intended parent/egg donor synchronize their cycles using birth control pills. About 14 days into this stage, both the surrogate and intended parent/egg donor usually start taking Lupron, a hormone that dramatically lowers estrogen levels. (Check out our March post on terms it’s helpful to know.)
The surrogate is typically about a week or so ahead of the intended parent/egg donor to ensure her uterus will be ready when the eggs are retrieved and fertilized.
When the surrogate’s menstrual cycle starts while on Lupron, her Lupron dose is normally decreased by half and she starts adding estrogen replacement to the mix (in the form of pills, patches, or shots, depending on the doctor). Some doctors prescribe other medications as well (Dexamethasone to suppress male hormones to increase implantation, antibiotics to guard against any infection that might have gone undiagnosed, etc.).
The retrieved eggs are fertilized with sperm from the intended father/sperm donor and incubated for two to five days. The surrogate’s Lupron injections stop the day before egg retrieval. Progesterone replacement starts the day of the retrieval and continues until the 12th week of pregnancy or a negative pregnancy test. Estrogen replacement also continues until the 12th week of pregnancy (when the placenta takes over hormone production). Because the surrogate was on Lupron, her natural hormones were suppressed. She will need external sources of these very important hormones in order to maintain any pregnancy that occurs.
When the fertilized embryos are at the proper stage, they are loaded into a special syringe with a thin flexible catheter at the end. The catheter is inserted through the cervix into the uterine cavity where the embryos are “injected.” Most doctors will only transfer three to four two-day-old embryos or two five-day-old embryos. Any unused embryos are frozen for future use if a pregnancy doesn’t result from the fresh cycle. The surrogate is then put on bed rest. Some surrogates are on bed rest a couple of hours following embryo transfer. Others have been on bed rest for up to three days.
A quantitative HCG, in which the amount of pregnancy hormone is measured, is usually done 14 days after the egg retrieval. At that time they are looking for the HCG level to be 50 or higher. Anything over 200 is indicative of a multiple pregnancy. The surrogate will have a second quantitative HCG test two days later to verify that the pregnancy hormone numbers are going up (they should double about every two days). If the quantitative HCG is negative, all external hormones are discontinued and a menstrual cycle starts within five days.
If a pregnancy has occurred, an ultrasound is usually done at six weeks to check for a heartbeat, and again at 12 weeks before the surrogate is released to a regular OB/GYN. During this time, hormone levels are checked several times to ensure that the proper levels are being maintained for pregnancy. Once the placenta starts taking over the hormone production, the surrogate is weaned off the hormone replacements.
The rest of the pregnancy would be the same as any other pregnancy.
This is a long process and can take up to two years to complete from start to finish. But once you see that the new parents hold their child for the first time, everything you have done instantly has a greater meaning.
Mary Ellen is the Surrogacy Spotlight’s featured expert of the month! If you have questions or are looking for more information about surrogacy, visit http://www.facebook.com/surrogacyspotlight.
