Smiling Connor Levy is a happy, healthy newborn. But there’s something special about him – because he gives hope to thousands of women desperate to become mothers.
His parents are the first in the world to benefit from a fertility test which promises to revolutionise IVF – and could be cheap enough for widespread use on the NHS.
The Oxford University DNA test helps fertility doctors select only the best embryos. Doing this could almost guarantee some women a baby.
Bundle of joy: Connor was conceived using the new fertility test developed at Oxford University
His mother and father, Marybeth Scheidts, 36, and David Levy, 41, had been trying to start a family for five years and feared they would never have a baby.
Then Connor was born seven weeks ago weighing 7lb 15oz.
Miss Scheidts told the Mail: ‘The first time I saw Connor, I was smashed with emotion. David and I are crazy, insanely in love with this kid.’
The couple, who live in Philadelphia, took part in a small-scale trial of the test which aims to increase the success rates of IVF. Currently as few as a quarter of IVF attempts lead to a birth.
Ecstatic: Marybeth Scheidtz and David Levy were delighted to have Connor after taking part in a small-scale trial of the test which aims to increase the success rates of IVF
The test uses cutting-edge technology called next generation sequencing to find out whether embryos have just the right number of chromosomes.
The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology’s annual conference heard that many eggs contain too many or too few chromosomes.
This stops any pregnancy from taking place or leads to a miscarriage. Having too many chromosomes can lead to conditions such as Down’s syndrome.
Examination: The test uses cutting-edge technology called next generation sequencing to find out whether embryos have just the right number of chromosomes
Therefore the test should also boost the odds of babies born by IVF being healthy. It would also cut the financial costs of IVF.
Several tests are already available but Oxford University’s Dr Dagan Wells believes that his will be half the cost of its rivals. Couples face paying up to £15,000 per course of IVF, plus £2,000 to £3,000 for chromosomal testing.
The test can also look for genes behind rare diseases and assess the health of the mitochondria – the ‘batteries’ inside cells that turn the food we eat into energy.
Defects in these cause around 50 genetic diseases, many of which kill in infancy or lead to miscarriages.
Discovery The Oxford University (pictured) DNA test helps fertility doctors select only the best embryos. Doing this could almost guarantee some women a baby
When all three features are taken into account, it is hoped the test will boost the odds of pregnancy by around a third. Used on relatively young women in the best clinics, it could take the odds of pregnancy to almost 80 per cent per attempt.
It is thought that the main beneficiaries of the test will be women in their 30s. The embryos of those aged 40-plus carry more defects, so too few could be produced for the test to be used.
A large-scale trial is planned for the UK later this year which, if successful, could mean the test will be available through private clinics in as little as 18 months.
However, some raised fears that the test could be exploited to give couples ‘designer’ babies with a certain eye or hair colour.
Roy Farquharson, of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, warned that the law would have to be amended to limit the genes that could be hunted out by the test.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2357982/Is-baby-start-IVF-revolution-Connor-born-thanks-cheap-accurate-fertility-test.html#ixzz2YTZL5FPl
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