Fertility experts have called for the provision of State funding for in vitrofertilisation (IVF) treatment.
“The realisation that financial and societal savings could result from the introduction of a State-funded IVF programme with compulsory elective single embryo transfers (eSET) where recommended should come sooner rather than later,” they concluded.
Their research makes available for the first time cumulative data from six of the seven IVF clinics in the country providing a reference on assisted reproductive treatment (ART) and outcomes for practicing doctors in Ireland.
Researchers from various fertility centres in Ireland presented, in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal, national data on ART treatment over 10 years voluntarily reported by six out of seven IVF clinics.
Data collected included: number of clinics and ART cycles; female age; clinical and multiple pregnancy rates; and treatment complications.
Access to IVF in Ireland is currently easier than it was 20 years ago, although it is still almost exclusively privately financed, they found.
The number of treatment cycles has constantly increased in IVF (257 per cent), Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) (231 per cent) and Frozen Embryo Transfers (FET) (385 per cent). Despite these increases, the researchers indicated Ireland (762 cycles per million inhabitants) is lagging behind the average European incidence of ART treatments (850 per million inhabitants), despite the WHO officially recognising infertility as a disease.
“Ireland lags far behind its European counterparts in terms of ART uptake. A potential reason is the lack of State funding of fertility therapy,” the research authors, led by Dr M Naasan of Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland, Rotunda Hospital, commented.
Denmark reports the highest number of treatment occurrences (2,268 per million inhabitants, 2006 data), with Ireland proportionately reporting one-third of their treatment numbers.
Compared to European averages, Ireland constantly had the lowest numbers seeking treatment in the under 29 years age category. Variation occurred in 2008, with an increase noted in this group “possibly due to better patient education and the realisation that fertility declines with female age”.
Pregnancy rates in Ireland were consistently above European averages, despite the higher age of the female population treated, the researchers also noted, concluding that ART practice in Ireland is safe, effective and responsible.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a process by which egg cells are fertilized by sperm outside of the womb, in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed. The process involves hormonally controlling the ovulatory process, removing ova (eggs) from the woman’s ovaries and getting sperm fertilize them in a fluid medium. The fertilized egg (zygote) is then transferred to the patient’s uterus with the intent to establish a successful pregnancy.
The first in vitro baby, Louise Brown, was born in 1978. Over the years, the procedures to achieve IVF pregnancy have become increasingly simpler, safer and more successful.
"Three-parent" fertility treatments designed to prevent some
incurable inherited diseases would be ethical and should go ahead as
long as research shows they are likely to be safe and effective, a
British medical ethics panel said on Tuesday.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said the treatments - which have become known as three-parent in vitro fertilization (IVF) because the offspring have genes from a mother, father and from a female donor - should be offered to affected families together with full information and expert support.
"If these treatments are successful, these children would be among the first in the world to have a genetic connection to not two people, but three people," said Geoff Watts, who chaired a Nuffield inquiry into the issue. "There are a number of ethical questions that arise and needed to be considered."
Around one in 6,500 children worldwide are born with serious diseases caused by faulty
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said the treatments - which have become known as three-parent in vitro fertilization (IVF) because the offspring have genes from a mother, father and from a female donor - should be offered to affected families together with full information and expert support.
"If these treatments are successful, these children would be among the first in the world to have a genetic connection to not two people, but three people," said Geoff Watts, who chaired a Nuffield inquiry into the issue. "There are a number of ethical questions that arise and needed to be considered."
Around one in 6,500 children worldwide are born with serious diseases caused by faulty
