IVF News

Lyon, France: Instead of preserving life, Germany’s embryo protection law has had the unintended consequence of increasing the number of foetuses killed after fertility treatment according to new figures presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday). A representative of the German IVF registry has called for the law to be changed urgently to ensure that this situation does not continue.
 
The German embryo protection law, passed in 1991, stipulates that no more than three embryos can be created per cycle of IVF and all three, regardless of their quality, must be transferred to the patient’s womb at one time, and cannot be frozen or discarded.
 
For the first time, figures for 2004 from the ESHRE European IVF monitoring consortium show that out of 8,500 deliveries in Germany in 2004 there were 222 foetal reductions performed (representing 2.6%). Foetal reductions are performed when a woman has a multiple pregnancy and doctors consider it necessary to reduce the number of foetuses she is carrying in order to increase the chances of the remaining ones surviving. It is also performed when doctors discover that foetuses are abnormal.
 
Professor Ricardo Felberbaum, from the German IVF registry and a member of the ESHRE European IVF monitoring consortium, said: “Germany’s embryo protection law is not in accordance with ART [artificial reproduction technology] practices now. Foetal reduction is being used in Germany much more than was expected and the German administration must face up to the situation that the 1991 law prevents optimal treatment of the patient and does not protect the embryo either. The law needs to be changed urgently to reflect the current state of the art.
 
“It is far worse to kill embryos after they have implanted in a woman’s womb, than it is to take embryos before implantation, when they are no more than a collection of cells, freeze any surplus embryos and transfer no more than one or two embryos at one time. It is best that only those with the highest implantation potential are used, leading to healthy singleton pregnancies.
 
“As the law currently stands it is killing embryos rather than protecting them,” he concluded.
 
Other figures from the consortium show that the number of ART procedures in Germany has nearly halved since state funding for them was cut.
 
Professor Anders Nyboe Andersen told the conference that Germany was a stark illustration of the impact that state funding has on the availability of ART for infertile couples.
 
“In 2003, Germany announced that it would be cutting its generous reimbursement of fertility treatment by 50% and in that year there was a sudden surge in the number of procedures from 84,819 in 2002 to 102,426 as couples rushed to take advantage of the existing funding arrangements. The following year, when the new reimbursement rules were implemented, total activity dropped by nearly 50 per cent to 60,425. Significantly, this was a persistent effect because the number of cycles remained at this lower level in 2005.”
 
Prof Nyboe Andersen, of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, was presenting data on behalf of the ESHRE European IVF monitoring consortium, which has been gathering information on ART procedures in Europe since 1997. These new figures relate to ART in Europe in 2004 – the most recent year for which data are available.
 
“The number of ART procedures has steadily increased over that time,” said Prof Nyboe Andersen. “In 2003 there was an overall increase of 13 per cent on 2002. However, in 2004 this rate of increase had slowed to just two per cent. This is almost entirely due to the drop in the number of cycles in Germany.”
 
Prior to 2004, Germany carried out the most number of ART procedures in the whole of Europe, with France and the UK in second and third place respectively. However, in 2004 France performed the most ART procedures (nearly 70,000), followed by Germany (just over 60,000), Spain (nearly 41,000) and the UK (just over 40,000). There were 370,963 cycles in the 29 European countries reporting to the consortium in 2004. As a comparison, the USA carried out approximately 130,000 cycles.
 
The availability of ART as measured by number of cycles per one million inhabitants is highest in Denmark, where couples are entitled to at least three free cycles of fertility treatment, with 2,128 cycles per million in 2004. By comparison, availability in Germany dropped from 1,243 cycles per million in 2003 to 803 per million in 2004. Availability in France was 1,154 per million, in Belgium 1,974 per million and in the UK 665 per million.
 
The data confirms that the proportion of ICSI to IVF procedures has continued to move in favour of ICSI, with 166,711 ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) procedures (60 per cent) versus 114,512 IVF (in vitro fertilisation) procedures (40 per cent). The number of frozen embryo transfers has continued to increase, rising from around 18 per cent when the consortium first started collecting data to 26 per cent in 2004.
 
“This is a very positive development,” said Prof Nyboe Andersen. “This means that patients are not having to go undergo repeated cycles of ovarian stimulation because enough eggs are being collected from the first cycle to freeze for use at a later date if the first cycle using the fresh eggs fails. This is much better for the health of the women.”
 
The increasing use of frozen eggs has also led to improvements in the proportion of babies born after ART. In Finland, there were 4,761 ART cycles started and nearly 19 per cent resulted in births when fresh oocytes were used, but the cumulative delivery rate from both fresh and frozen oocytes was 30 per cent. By contrast, in the UK, from 30,495 cycles, 22% of the deliveries occurred after fresh oocytes were used, but the cumulative delivery rate (fresh and frozen oocytes) was only 25 per cent because there were proportionately fewer frozen embryo transfers.
 
“Finland is the first country in the world to show at a national level that cryopreservation [freezing] is a very effective way of increasing the numbers of babies born after ART, because approximately third of all its ART deliveries were from frozen embryos,” said Prof Nyboe Andersen.
 
World Report on ART 2003
Dr Jacques de Mouzon, from INSERM, Paris, France, who is a member of the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART), presented the newest world figures to the conference. He reported that in 2003 there were:

• 667,000 ART cycles in 54 countries (all of Europe, all of north and south America, and parts of Asia and the Middle East), representing about half of the world and three billion people

• total ART activity in the whole of the world is estimated at 1.1 million cycles a year

• approximately 240,000 ART babies were born in the world in 2003

• more than three million ART babies have been born since the first ART baby (Louise Brown) was born 29 years ago

• ICSI was the most common ART procedure (about 55 per cent of all ART procedures)

• there was a “good trend” towards fewer numbers of embryos being transferred – an average decrease of 0.2 embryos per transfer worldwide since 2002

• there is wide variation between different countries with live birth rates after ART ranging between 10-37%.

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A team of doctors from the University of Maryland and the University of Amsterdam have published a report in the British Medical Journal, claiming that acupuncture could increase IVF success rates by as much as 65 per cent. 

The team, led by researcher Eric Manheimer, reviewed seven different studies published since 2002, comprising trials involving 1,366 women undergoing IVF treatment. The women taking part in the trials were given acupuncture immediately before or immediately after the embryo was implanted in their womb. The team found that for every ten IVF cycles where acupuncture was used in this way, an additional pregnancy ensued. Taking all the information from the studies, the team concluded that women who had acupuncture in conjunction with IVF were 65 per cent more likely to have a successful embryo transfer, compared to those that had no treatment or were given fake acupuncture. 

Acupuncture is believed to increase blood flow to the uterus as well as stimulating the neurotransmitters that trigger production of gonadotrophin-releasing hormones, controlling women's ovulation, which is why it may be potentially helpful to women undergoing IVF treatment. It has been used in Chinese medicine to regulate fertility for hundreds of years. The cost of acupuncture treatments is around £50 per session, as compared to the £4,000 to £6,000 cost of one IVF cycle. This means that it is potentially cost effective to introduce acupuncture alongside IVF. 

However, the conclusions drawn by the study have not convinced everyone of the efficacy of acupuncture. Professor Edzard Ernst, from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth remained sceptical, saying 'on the face of it, these results sound fantastic. I would, however, be very cautious as much of the observed effect could be due to placebo response'. It could be that women are expecting the treatment to be helpful, which makes them more relaxed when undergoing IVF, with the result that the treatment is more effective. The doctors involved in the trial deny that the placebo effect resulted in successful treatment, because the women taking part in the trial receiving fake acupuncture - where needles were put in the wrong places - did not also experience increased pregnancy rates. 

Around 32,000 British women undergo IVF each year, resulting in 11,000 births annually. Previous studies had indicated that women undergoing acupuncture in conjunction with IVF were actually less likely to become pregnant. However, it is thought that these women had sought out acupuncture themselves, rather than being randomly assigned as part of a trial, and were doing so because their chances of conceiving were already poor. 

Mr Manheimer warned that the results were preliminary and did not imply that all women should seek out acupuncture. He explained that 'acupuncture can improve the rates of pregnancy and live birth. Some couples might want to choose acupuncture, but others might want to wait until further research has been done'.
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Women who have not conceived after two cycles of IVF (in vitro fertilisation) may face reduced success rates if electing to undergo further cycles, according to a new study. The research is preliminary and many factors which may affect IVF success, such as the age and weight of the women, were not taken into account.

The study looked at 300,000 women across the United States receiving in total half a million IVF cycles over five years and found 48 percent of women had a baby after one or two cycles. However, after three cycles this number had only risen by five percent and after seven cycles stood at just 56 percent. This means that only three percent more women had successfully become pregnant after seven cycles of IVF than had done so after three.

'Don't quit if the first cycle isn't successful', said lead researcher Professor Barbara Luke from Michigan State University: '(But) if you haven't gotten pregnant by the third, the chances are slim to continue'. 

In an attempt to successfully conceive, couples may incur great expense trying multiple cycles of IVF but there is currently little guidance as to the likelihood of success after the first. The findings indicated the best chance of conceiving is after the first IVF cycle, with 36 percent of women becoming pregnant at the first attempt. The success rate after the second cycle was significantly lower, with only an additional 12 percent of the total number of women in the study becoming pregnant on the second try. From the third cycle onwards the success rate dropped dramatically, with the total number of live births remaining largely unchanged.

The authors hope further investigation into factors that may affect fertility not addressed in the study may clarify success rates and aid both doctors and couples in their decision-making.

The research was presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in Denver.

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The New Zealand Government is to make $500,000 in funding available for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for 'high-risk couples'. Pete Hodgson, the Minister of Health, says that this funding will allow about 40 women or couples per year access to embryo testing for genetic conditions such as Huntington's disease, haemophilia and cystic fibrosis. People who wish to access the funding should initially see their own doctor, and the funding will be available through district health boards beginning in the first half of 2006.

PGD involves taking a single cell from a 2-4 day old embryo created using in vitro fertilisation (IVF), performing a genetic or chromosome test on that cell, and then returning one or two unaffected embryos to the womb. In New Zealand, the procedure, including the IVF, costs about $12,000 a time. The Health Ministry will allow couples at 'high-risk' of passing on a serious genetic disorder up to two attempts at the procedure - but the funding will not extend to screening older mothers for chromosome disorders. Everyone seeking PGD will receive 'genetic and psychosocial counselling from appropriately qualified counsellors'.

Pete Hodgson said that the Government is making the funding available because 'for some couples the chance of serious genetic conditions has meant that becoming parents has been too risky'. He added that many couples in the past have had to 'get pregnant first and test the developing fetus for disorders later'. As this situation was seen to be undesirable, the Government decided to fund PGD: 'by testing first and ensuring that embryos with serious genetic disorders are not implanted, we can make it much easier for those couples to have healthy children', he said.

Groups supporting people with various genetic conditions have welcomed the news. John Forman, the executive director of Organisations for Rare Disorders, said that the public funding of PGD is 'a tremendous step forward, which a lot of families have been waiting for for a long time'. Kate Russell, chief executive of the Cystic Fibrosis Association in New Zealand, says that several couples she knows will want access to the tests as soon as the funding becomes available. However, the Catholic Church is opposed to the idea of funding for PGD. It says that funding PGD is the same as funding terminations and argues that funds would be better spent on treating sick people. A spokesman for the group Right to Life said that they oppose PGD 'because it entails discrimination against the human embryo because it has a potential for disability'.

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The Assisted Reproduction Technologies & Procedures is Designed for a Maximum of 54 Hours of European External CME Credits. Each Medical Specialist Should Claim only Those Hours of Credit That He/She Actually Spent in The Educational Activity. EACCME Credits are Recognised by the American Medical Association (AMA) towards the Physician's Recognition Award (PRA). To Convert EACCME Credit to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit Contact AMA. Contact once you successfully get award of EACCME Certificate at GIVF Club - Centre for Human Reproduction. INTERNATIONAL COURSE TRAINERS: Prof. Claude Ranoux Dr. N. A Armar LOCAL IVF CENTERS FOR HANDS-ON PRACTICAL SESSIONS: Beach Side IVF - Karachi American IVF Center - Karachi CENTERS FOR POST TRAINING ATTACHEMENTS (Optional for Foreign Participants): Fertility Care Multan FRIENDS IVF - Faisalabad STAR IVF - Sargodha American IVF - Karachi Beach Side IVF - Karachi DURATION OF ART TRAINING COURSE: 15 Days (10 Days academic with practicals and 5 days completely participative at IVF Centers) ART TRAINING DATES: 7th September - 20th September TRAINING PROGRAMME SCHEDULE: Can be downloaded at http://www.givfclub.com/givfchrtrainingcenter/gchrcoursedetails.html ART TRAINING COURSE FEE: A fully Accreditated Training Course at very economical cost of US$ 1,500/- FEE DISCOUNTS FOR IVF.NET and GIVF Club MEMBERS: For GIVF Club Members. Club Membership is also open now for doctors and lab staff outside Pakistan. Complete FREE ONLINE MEMBERSHIP FORM - Go to http://www.givfclub.com/clubmembership.html Discount for IVF.NET Members - 5% Discount for GIVF Club Member - 10% (Discounts can not be aggregated) COURSE REGISTRATION PROCEDURE: Only 20 Candidates shall be registered for the course. Keeping in view the credentials of the course and low cost we anticipate high number of applicants, and hence shall be entertained on first come first serve basis. FOR REGISTRATION - Fill Out Online Registration Form at http://www.givfclub.com/givfchrtrainingcenter/gchrenrollementprocedur.html Once you fill out the form, you will get an automatic acknowledgement. Kindly keep a good record of that until you receive Invoice from us. If you don't receive Invoice within 2 Working Days, then Immediately Contact GIVF Club Centre for Human Reproduction to avoid any complication. 25% of Invoice amount must be paid within one week of Invoice date, and the remaining must be cleared one month before the scheduled start date. Visa Invitation Letter, and Invitation Letter from Local Chamber of Commerce for Pakistan Embassy in your country shall be sent to you with 2 weeks of receipt of 25% Fee of Invoice value. THE COURSE IS IDEAL FOR ALL WHO WISH TO ESTABLISH & POLISH THEIR CAREER INTO ART AND SHALL INCLUDE ALL ASPECTS FOR IVD PHYSICIANS AND EMBRYOLOGISTS

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The Finnish Parliament has voted in favour of new fertility legislation, after years of debate and delays. Until now, fertility treatment in Finland has been practised without a background of regulation, although many aspects have been self-regulated by treatment providers.

The key features of the proposed new legislation said that fertility treatment should only be performed by fertility clinics authorised by the Ministry of Health; treatments should be available for single women and lesbian couples, as well as to heterosexual couples; that there will be no age limit imposed on the treatment of women or men - decisions on whether treatment is medically indicated or not will be left to patients' doctors; gamete donors will be identifiable and their names kept on a register of donors, accessible by donor-conceived offspring when they reach the age of 18; and embryos currently in storage created using anonymous egg or sperm donations will either have to be used or destroyed within six months of the new law coming into force.

Most of the political debate focused on who should be allowed access to fertility treatment. The most controversial aspect of the legislation - that single women and lesbians should be able to receive treatment - was passed by 105 votes to 83, even though the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament had previously endorsed a more restrictive version of the law. It had stated that treatment should be restricted to heterosexual couples only. Christian groups demonstrated outside Parliament while the debates were carrying on - one group held prayer vigils and pressed for a child's 'right to have a father'; some proclaimed eternal damnation and the possibility of redemption. They were opposed by other groups supporting the rights of lesbian couples to create families, emphasising human rights and the importance of loving family relationships. Finland's Society of Queer Studies (SQS) said that lawmakers should take into account the fact that no scientific studies support the claim that only heterosexual families guarantee a healthy and balanced upbringing.

The new legislation now needs approval from the Parliament's Grand Committee, which will vote on Wednesday whether or not to approve the new law.

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One year ago we presented an IVF ethics questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire was to determine current opinion of many of the issues surrounding IVF and associated technology. Within 6 weeks we had over 600 responses from people in the field of IVF, patients and members of the general public from all around the world. Results from the questionnaire have been presented in major international conferences in the US (ASRM) and Europe (ESHRE). Results have also been featured in the New Scientist

We now have results of the questionnaire online.
They can be seen at http://ivf.net/survey/stats.php?sid=2

We welcome your comments below.

Please do not reproduce results or analysis of results without permission.

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ASRM
http://www.asrm.org/Professionals/Meetings/sanfrancisco2008/Abstracts2008.pdf

O-181
‘WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN?’ RESULTS OF AN ONLINE SURVEY.
T. A. Elliott, J. A. Friedman, E. T. Siegel, H. I. Kort, Z. P. Nagy.
IVF Laboratory, Reproductive Biology Associates, Atlanta, GA.

P-828
QUALITY OF LIFE AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD: RESULTS OF
AN ONLINE SURVEY. E. T. Siegel, T. Elliott, J. A. Friedman, D. L. Keenan, Z. P. Nagy.
Reproductive Biology Associates, Atlanta, GA

P-828
QUALITY OF LIFE AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD: RESULTS OF
AN ONLINE SURVEY. E. T. Siegel, T. Elliott, J. A. Friedman, D. L. Keenan, Z. P. Nagy.
Reproductive Biology Associates, Atlanta, GA.

ESHRE
http://posters.webges.com/eshre/e-poster

Opinions of embryonic stem cell use in IVF; results of an online survey
e-Poster: 419
J.A. Friedman, E.T. Siegel, T.H. Taylor, Z.P. Nagy, T.A. Elliott
Reproductive Biology Associates, Atlanta, GA.

 

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Montreal, Quebec ? Researchers at the conjoint meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society today presented their work on the way different lifestyle choices, environmental factors, and medications can affect male fertility.

Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut reported results of their review of male infertility patients seen over a 10 year period who had a history of anabolic steroid abuse. They found that not all patients who have a history of anabolic steroid abuse are infertile and that, for many, fertility returns after steroid use ceases. This recovery may require hormonal treatment, but can also happen spontaneously. The researchers examined the records of 15 patients with a clear history of self-administered steroid use and an average age of 33. Eleven of the 15 had the low testosterone levels and low levels of FSH and lutenizing hormone expected for steroid abusers; four with normal hormone levels had other causes contributing to their infertility. Nine of the 11 were azoospermic; they did not have any sperm in their ejaculates, while two had low sperm counts. Seven of the nine azoospermic patients resumed sperm production after they ceased steroid use; five of these required hormonal treatment; the other two resumed spermatogenesis spontaneously. ***

Scientists in Sao Paulo, Brazil have found a correlation between urban levels of air pollution and a decrease in the male-female sex ratio at birth for mice and humans. Birth registries were consulted for the number of babies born between January 2001 and December 2003 in the areas monitored for pollution. In the least polluted areas 51.7% of the babies born were male; in the most polluted areas the percentage of males born decreased to 50.7%. In a corresponding experimental study using mice, male mice were housed for the first four months of their life in either a filtered air-chamber or were exposed to unfiltered ambient air. After four months both groups were mated with female mice that had not been exposed to pollution. Males from the filtered air environment produced offspring with a 1.34 male/female ratio, while males that had been exposed to polluted air produced offspring with a 0.86 male/female ratio. In addition, spermatogenesis in the mice exposed to air pollution was negatively affected.

At the University at Buffalo, in Buffalo, NY, researchers have demonstrated that chronic exposure to nicotine and tobacco smoke results in a significant loss in the fertilizing capacity of sperm. The researchers examined whether the sperm of chronic tobacco smokers was defective in binding ton the human zona pellucida (the outer membrane of the egg). The sperm from 18 men who had each smoked more than 4 cigarettes a day for two or more years (average 15.6 years) was compared to the sperm of screened research donors (controls) in the Hemizona Assay (HZA). In this test, non-viable donor oocytes were halved, then one half of each egg was incubated with a smoker?s sperm, while the matching half was incubated with control sperm. After incubation, the egg halves were examined and the numbers of sperm tightly bound to the zona pellucida were counted and compared. Two thirds of the smokers failed the HZA; their fertilizing capacity was just 25% that of the donors. An index representing the relative amount of smoking that a subject had done in his life was calculated for each smoker by multiplying the number of cigarettes per day by number of years smoking. Of those with the lower index scores, 71% passed the HZA; only 18% of the heavier smokers passed.

Michigan scientists investigated whether there was a connection between metal levels in the blood and semen parameters of men who ate fish caught in the Great Lakes. They analyzed data from 144 study participants who had submitted blood for testing levels of 12 metals, semen for analysis, and questionnaire detailing their fish consumption history. Men with a history of any fish consumption in the preceding 12 months showed high levels of mercury in their blood. But this was not restricted to consumers of Great Lakes fish; high mercury levels were even more strongly associated with consumption of ocean fish. However no association was found between sperm concentration or motility and any metal.

Researchers at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and Walter Reed Army Medical Center found that regular use of ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) does not affect semen parameters and clinical pregnancy rates in assisted reproductive technology patients. In the past, experiments in mice and cattle have shown that NSAIDs decrease the production of prostoglandins, components of seminal fluid, without affecting sperm counts or motility. Patients having semen analyses at the clinic completed a survey including questions on use of medication- daily use was considered to be regular use. Sixty-eight (6.3%) of 1082 patients were regular users of ibuprofen. When their semen parameters, use of ICSI, and clinical pregnancy rates for ART were compared to intermittent and non-users of ibuprofen, no differences emerged.

In a prospective controlled study using sperm from normal donors and four brands of vaginal lubricants (Pre-Seed?, FemGlide?, Replens?, Astroglide?) often recommended to fertility patients, researchers found that one brand does not cause a significant decrease in sperm motility or damage to chromatin integrity, while the others do. In the first experiment for motility, donor sperm were incubated for 30 minutes in medium free of lubricant and in medium containing 10% vaginal lubricant. Sperm motility was measured after incubation and ranged from 66% in the lubricant-free control medium to 2% in medium containing Astroglide?. The best performing lubricant in this experiment was Pre-Seed? with 64% motile sperm after incubation. In the second experiment to gauge chromatin damage caused by the lubricants, donor sperm were incubated in lubricant-free medium as a positive control , in medium containing 10% KY? as a negative control and in medium containing one of two lubricants, Pre-Seed? and FemGlide? . After four hours incubation the sperm were evaluated for damage to their genetic material and graded in accordance with the DNA fragmentation index. Pre-Seed? demonstrated the smallest increase in chromatin damage with a 7% increase over the control.

Researchers from Reproductive Biology Associates in Atlanta report that a high body mass index (BMI) in men correlates with reduced testosterone levels. Patients? heights and weights were recorded on the day their blood was drawn to test for reproductive hormones. Patients? BMIs were calculated and they were grouped into the published ranges for normal, overweight, and obese. Average testosterone levels were calculated for each group and it was discovered that overweight men have levels 24% lower than men of normal weight and obese men have levels 26% lower. Men with high BMI typically are found to have an abnormal semen analysis as well.

Peter Schlegel, MD, President of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology remarked, ?These presentations reflect the wide range of factors that can affect a man?s fertility and show that men, like women, face many risks to their fertility that they can control. While some risks are beyond the individual?s ability to influence, we recommend that people do what they can to stay healthy and avoid choices, like smoking, that are known dangers to health and men?s fertility.?

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A study conducted by researchers at the Harvard Medical School, US, has suggested that consumption of alcohol may be detrimental to chances of success in IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment. Consumption of just six units of alcohol a week by both partners reduced the probability of conception by 26 per cent. The study particularly singled out apparent detrimental effects to drinking white wine in women and drinking beer for the male partners. In those women whose partner drank beer daily, a 30 per cent decrease in the chance of having a baby was identified.

The study, presented at the annual conference of the American Society for Assisted Reproduction (ASRM) in Atlanta this week, questioned 574 couples who underwent more than 5,300 cycles of IVF. Of these, half of the women questioned drank less than one alcoholic drink a week. The leader of the study, Dr Brooke Rossi, said of the findings that 'there are many factors why IVF fails and most of these patients have no control over. But how much they drink is something that they can change.'

The President of the UK's Royal College of Physicians, Professor Ian Gilmore, who is also Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, commented on the study: 'Emerging results from this large cohort of couples undergoing IVF underline the pervasive dangers of alcohol in relation to conception and pregnancy. They lend weight to the importance of giving clear and unambiguous advice to women who are pregnant, or hoping to become so, that they should avoid drinking alcohol. If there are difficulties in achieving conception this advice should apply to their partners as well.'

The finding provides further evidence that drinking alcohol may make it harder to conceive for couples even without a specific fertility issue. As Tony Rutherford, President of the British Fertility Society, told the press: 'For any lifestyle factor that affects IVF, it would be unusual for it not to also have an impact on couples trying naturally for a baby.' He added that 'these findings probably reinforce 'good practice' advice to drink no more than one or two drinks a week if you are worried about having a healthy baby. But it may be that if you are trying for a baby with IVF and want to maximise your chances of success, you may want to 'play safe' and not drink at all.' It appears from this study that this advice may apply to both partners.

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