IVF NewsNews: Widow claims human right to use dead husband's sperm
MacKenna Roberts 14 October 2008
The UK's High Court has ruled that it may have been unlawful for a widow to have removed her dead husband's sperm. Despite UK law requiring valid written consent for the storage and use of sperm, the 42-year-old widow obtained emergency Court permission to have sperm collected from her 31-year-old husband's body hours after he unexpectedly died from complications with a routine operation to remove his appendix in June 2007. She now seeks authorisation to undergo IVF abroad using his sperm. Giving the judgment, Mr Justice Charles said: 'I am not satisfied it is possible to lawfully remove sperm from a dead person who has not given effective advanced consent'. The mother-of-one pleaded that the couple had wanted another child, discussed their desire with family and friends and had sought information regarding IVF together. She explained that they had not thought to have him provide written permission because they had not feared that the minor surgery would be fatal. While the attempt to construct retrospective consent with evidence of his intentions holds little legal weight in light of the clear statutory provisions, her lawyer also argued that disposal of his sperm would contravene her human right to establish a family (protected under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, enshrined in UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998). Because fresh sperm will lose viability over time, the Court authorised the emergency sample collection pending later legal resolution. Upon closer examination at the hearing, Mr Justice Charles questioned the decision. The final decision now resides with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which regulates gamete storage and its use. If permission is denied, then the HFEA decision will likely be legally challenged as was done by Diane Blood in a similar case in 1997. HFEA chair, Lisa Jardine, commented that the organisation sympathises with these 'difficult' situations but 'must operate within the legislation'. This case, like the landmark Blood case, may turn on the statutory loophole that provides the HFEA discretionary powers to dispense with the consent requirements for the sperm to be exported - in accordance with an EU citizen's right to receive health treatment in another member state. Diane Blood ultimately won a protracted legal battle through the English Courts in 1997 and was able to conceive two sons using her late husband's sperm. The Bloods attempted to start a family but Stephen Blood contracted meningitis and lapsed into a coma - his sperm was collected shortly before he died in 1995. The HFEA refused Mrs Blood authorisation to use the sperm as she did not have written consent from her husband. The High Court upheld the authority's decision because the HFE Act does not provide discretionary powers to waive domestic consent requirements. The Court of Appeal agreed but also decided that the authority could have used a statutory discretion to allow the transport of Blood's sperm to Belgium for treatment. In Blood's case, Lord Hoffman noted that the sperm's storage was unlawful without the requisite written consent. However, given the unprecedented circumstances, he realised it was necessary for the clinic to store the sperm first and decide the legality later. He commented that he did not foresee the Courts would consider the legality of exporting unlawfully stored sperm again. A decade later, posthumous sperm has unlawfully been stored pending resolution of new legal arguments and Mr Justice Charles has likewise declared the case a 'novelty' in the law. Following the Blood case, the Government held a review of the law. The 1998 report concluded that the 'written consent' requirement should remain. Coincidentally, on the same day last week, MPs in the lower house of Victoria, Australia passed a package of reproductive law reforms which included a controversial clause to allow women to conceive using their partner's posthumous gametes provided she has prior written consent. [ Full Article ] News: IMSI
ceram 10 May 2010
-Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection (IMSI): Coinciding with their 10th anniversary (2010) CERAM have incorporated a new pioneer technique called IMSI, in their effort to provide the most advanced techniques in assisted reproduction to their patients. IMSI allows them to choose only those sperm with the best morphology for use in the assisted reproduction process, using a high resolution microscope that allows them to explore at 8000X magnification. Exploring sperm at this magnification shows defects in sperm heads, shapes and sizes and any sperm abnormalities associated with high DNA fragmentation that cannot be seen in conventional microscopes used for ICSI, only the best morphological sperms will be micro-injected into the eggs, which would lead to higher pregnancy success. This method is particularly helpful for patients with repeated failed IVF-attempts, to those whose sperm count is low, or has a large number of abnormal or immobile sperms. more info: CERAM tel:+34 952829035 / +34 952901451 email: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] [ Full Article ] News: CRi Oosight™ Imaging System a Key to Breakthrough Gene Replacement Method With Potential To Prevent Inherited Mitochondrial Diseases
Cathy Boutin 31 August 2009
CRi Oosight™ Imaging System a Key to Breakthrough Gene Replacement Method With Potential To Prevent Inherited Mitochondrial Diseases
-Study Reported in Nature-
August 27, 2009, Woburn, MA— U.S. researchers using CRi’s Oosight™ imaging system have developed a gene transfer technique that has potential to prevent inherited diseases passed on from mothers to their children through mutated DNA in cell mitochondria. The research, which demonstrated the technique in rhesus monkeys, appears in the Aug. 26 issue of the journal Nature.
The group, headed by Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon National Primate Research Center and the Oregon Stem Cell Center, extracted the nuclear DNA from the mother’s egg, guided by the Oosight system, and transplanted it into another egg that had the nucleus removed. The technique allowed the mother to pass along her nuclear genetic material to her offspring without her mitochondrial DNA. The eggs were fertilized and transplanted into surrogate mothers, resulting in the birth of four apparently healthy monkeys. Defects in DNA of mitochondria, the cell’s “power plants,” are associated with a wide range of human diseases.
The Oosight system solved a key problem in avoiding damage to the nuclear DNA during the transfer procedure by providing a non-invasive imaging technique for visualizing the genetic material. Traditional visualization methods employ a stain or involve exposure to ultraviolet light, either of which can damage DNA. The Oregon team had used the Oosight system in previous research, published in Nature in 2007, that provided a foundation for the current study. In that research, they cloned rhesus monkey embryos and used them to create embryonic stem cells.
The Oosight system uses polarized light to generate high-contrast, real-time images of biological features such as the spindle apparatus housing the chromosomes and other filamentous structures within the egg, such as the multi-layer zona pellucida, without the addition of toxic stains or labels, while simultaneously generating useful quantitative data of their structural composition. Two of the four offspring, Spindler and Spindy, were named after the spindle, which is what the Oosight system is used to visualize.
“This study underscores the potential of the Oosight system to advance reproductive medicine and highlights the enabling capabilities or our polarized light technology,” said George Abe, president and CEO of CRi.
"With this advance, the Oosight imaging system, which is already widely used in fertility clinics, has offered new insights and possibilities into reproductive health and medicine," said Gary Borisy, director and CEO of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. The Oosight system is based on imaging technology originally developed by MBL scientists Rudolf Oldenbourg and Michael Shribek, working in collaboration with David Keefe, M.D., of the University of South Florida College of Medicine.
In In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) the Oosight system is used as an aid to intracytosplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The system not only provides assurance that the genetic material is not damaged by the injection needle, but it can also be used as a measurement tool to assess egg viability in both fresh and frozen eggs. Data show that an egg with a weak or malformed spindle and inner layer zona as measured with the system is much less likely to result in pregnancy.
Other scientists have welcomed news of the advance. Mitochondria-expert Douglas Wallace of the University of California, Irvine, said “results were exciting” and the technique is “potentially very interesting.” Although he did caution that “there are safety issues that are going to need to be addressed before one could think about it in humans.”
The Nature article reported that 15 embryos were transplanted into nine surrogate mothers; three became pregnant, one with twins, and four offspring were born (only three of these offspring have been reported in the Nature paper) The success rate is similar to that of conventional in vitro fertilization.
A sample movie of the enucleation process that Dr. Mitalipov used is available at http://www.cri-inc.com/multimedia/Oosight_SCNT_Enucleation_Rhesus_Monkey.avi, (movie courtesy Dr. Mitalipov, OHSU).
Contact CRi at [email protected] for more details.
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Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (CRi) is a leader in biomedical imaging, and is dedicated to providing comprehensive solutions that analyze disease-specific information from biological and clinical samples in the combined physiological, morphological, and biochemical context of intact tissues and organisms for a variety of applications. With over 80 patents pending and issued, CRi’s award-winning innovations are being utilized around the world to enable our customers to perform leading research and provide better healthcare.
For more information contact:
Cathy Boutin Marketing Manager Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (CRi) Tel. 781-935-9099 x180 Email: [email protected]
[ Full Article ] Article: Social egg freezing: trouble ahead?
By Jim Catt, Director of Embryology, Monash IVF, Victoria, Australia 09 February 2009
With the gradual and continual improvement of cryopreservation techniques comes an increased demand for these services. An example of this would be the increased reliance on the cryopreservation of embryos to support elective single embryo transfer (eSET) programmes. There is a more controversial side to these improvements, however: perhaps the most controversial being social oocyte cryopreservation, i.e. electing to freeze your oocytes for non-medical reasons. [ Full Article ] News: Embryos tested for haemophilia gene mutation
Dr. Kirsty Horsey 18 July 2005
UK scientists have used preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to help a couple conceive a baby unaffected by haemophilia, a serious inherited blood clotting disorder. A team at the Clinical Sciences Centre in Hammersmith, London and colleagues at Queen Charlotte's Hospital used a new test that directly detects the gene mutation responsible, allowing unaffected male and female embryos to be identified. Previously, PGD for haemophilia involved discarding all male embryos, since only boys are affected by the condition. [ Full Article ] News: Too much exercise may be bad for fertility
Sarah Guy 29 November 2009
High frequency and high intensity exercise can triple a woman's chances of experiencing fertility problems, say Norwegian researchers. Women who exercise every day or at such an extreme intensity that they become physically exhausted, have less chance of getting pregnant in the first year of trying than women who exercise 'moderately', says Dr Sigridur Gudmundsdottir, who led the research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. 'We believe it is likely that physical activity at a very high or very low level has a negative effect on fertility, while moderate activity is beneficial', said Dr Gudmundsdottir. The study involved 3000 women in Norway who were questioned about the frequency, duration and intensity of their fitness regimes between 1984 and 1986, and then asked about their pregnancies ten years later. 'Among these women, we found two groups who experienced an increased risk of infertility. There were those who trained almost every day and there were those who trained until they were exhausted. Those who did both had the highest risk of infertility', said Dr Gudmundsdottir, whose research appears in the medical journal Human Reproduction. Gudmundsdottir and her team discovered that the women under 30 who exercised the most were those who had experienced the most problems conceiving; a quarter of these women were unable to conceive in the first year of trying, compared to a national average of seven per cent. The effect of the extreme exercise did not last however, 'The vast majority of women in the study had children in the end', Gudmundsdottir said, adding 'and those who trained the hardest in the middle of the 1980s were actually among those who had the most children in the 1990s'. It is known that elite female athletes can experience fertility problems, however, this study shows that women who push themselves in their own exercise regimes are at risk too. Experts believe that intense physical activity, such as gruelling physical workouts, can actually leave the body energy-deficient, and unable to maintain all of the required hormonal mechanisms required for successful fertilisation. Some are warning however that the study only shows an association between extreme physical activity and fertility problems, not a cause-and-effect relationship, and the results should be seen in the context of other research recommending that healthy women benefit most from moderate exercise. [ Full Article ] News: Reasons why single women use DI
Dr Kirsty Horsey 03 July 2002
The majority of single women who use artificial insemination with donor sperm (DI) in order to conceive do so because they fear that they will never find a suitable partner with whom to have children, not because they have fertility problems.
The finding was reported at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Vienna, Austria. Dr Clare Murray and colleagues from the Family and Child Research Centre at City University, London, UK, studied 22 single women and 36 married women who had used DI. All the women had children aged less than one year. Dr Murray found that more than two-thirds of the single women said that they chose DI because they thought 'time was running out' to enter into a relationship with a man with whom they could have children naturally. Most of the women said they would prefer to have a child 'within the context of a relationship', although one third of them stated that they 'actively want to go it alone'. These tended to be women who had a 'strong social support network' and did not 'perceive much social stigma' attached to using DI. The study also found that children born to single mothers via DI appear to suffer no ill-effects from their method of conception. Meanwhile, the world's first sperm bank service designed to help lesbian women become parents was launched in the UK last week. 'Man Not Included', an internet service, will match up lesbian couples with potential sperm donors. Donations would be made in one of a network of established clinics before being sent out to the couples for self-insemination. John Gonzales, the man behind the service, acknowledges that there will be some opposition to the scheme, but said 'this is a service that is wanted and needed by the lesbian community'. [ Full Article ] Announcement: A New Option-In Vitro Maturation of Human Oocytes IVM??
Shelley W. Amster 09 April 2005
BACKGROUND [ Full Article ] News: Utah legalises surrogacy, with conditions
Dr. Kirsty Horsey 06 March 2005
The US state of Utah has passed a bill (SB14) that will legalise some surrogacy arrangements in the state. The bill originally passed through the state's Senate last month. Last week, members of the state House of Representatives voted 38 to 31 in favour of the bill, which says that only women who are married and medically unable to become pregnant or give birth would be allowed to enter into a surrogacy agreement. It also states that women used as surrogates must be financially stable - not on welfare - and must have previously carried and delivered a baby. The bill was passed through the House after an amendment was approved that excluded couples where one partner would provide neither the sperm nor the eggs from entering into a surrogacy arrangement. This means that both partial and full surrogacy are allowed, but not surrogacy where the embryo is wholly donated, either by the surrogate or anyone else.
Another amendment to the bill was defeated - this would have placed a limit on the amount of money the woman acting as surrogate could be paid for her services. Utah law previously prohibited payments to surrogates. The amendments to the bill then passed back to the state Senate to be approved, before final approval is given by the state's Governor. With little debate, the Senate gave its final endorsement to the amended version of the bill last Friday. A spokesman for Republican Governor Jon Huntsman said he is generally supportive of the bill but will wait to see it in its final form. Republican representative Margaret Dayton said that she was worried that the new law would be used by 'career women' to start a family, and open the prospect of a market 'where we are going to save our best heifers, I mean women for breeding'. She said: 'I have a real concern about legalising this technology just because we can', adding 'I have great compassion for those who can't have children and want them, but I also know that there are many good children who need adopting'. Republican representative Eric Hutchings, who amended the bill to prohibit the use of a surrogate if the gametes of neither the intending mother nor father are used, likened the process of surrogacy to 'ready meals'. 'Currently, the parents don't have to put anything into it. They can buy the egg, buy the sperm, and rent the womb', he said, adding 'if that's the way they want to go, there are kids which are already cooked, they're already done'. Representative Lorie Fowlke, the bill's sponsor, said that she was offended by some of the comments and assumptions made in the debate. She said the bill was intended to help those couples who could not have a child of their own, pointing out that the bill only allowed married couples to use a surrogate, and that there must be a medical reason indicating surrogacy as an option. 'There is nothing more painful to a woman who wants to be a mother and cannot, and we should provide this option to them', she said, adding that she had doubts that the bill would encourage or allow women to make a career out of being a surrogate. [ Full Article ] News: UK woman goes abroad for PGD 'not available in UK
Dr. Kirsty Horsey 30 May 2006
A doctor in the UK has had a baby boy free from an inherited disease following treatment in Belgium. Dr Mary Baum and her husband Philip travelled to Belgium for the treatment because it could not be performed in the UK. [ Full Article ] |