Hi all,

I'm enjoying the discussion on IVF risks - has been a big concern of mine
for a long time.

An article I published w/ Jeff Nisker last year (Can Med Assn J, May 29 --
online at http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/164/11/1589 ) briefly
summarized key risks known to 2001. Several of the references there might be
helpful. I'll be interested to see Winston's published study.

What really frosts me (no cryopreservation pun intended) is that it has
taken 20+ years to really begin paying attention to negative outcomes for
either women or offspring, and I still run into clinicians who insist that
"there is no evidence that -- is a problem". What this usually means is that
there is no evidence collected at all. More to the point, most fertility
clinicians I've encountered aren't terribly interested in what happens after
the pregnancy test -- many have no idea whether children were even born
alive unless the patient sends photos and thanks (unless the govt requires
them to provide data). Paul Byrne, my colleague here at UA who heads the
neonatal ICU, has argued w/ fertility doctors for years about high-order
multiple pregnancies/premature birth/NICU problems, and says they just don't
get it. Where the bleep is any registry of patients and offspring that would
allow long-term tracking and confirmation of potential effects, and why
wasn't it in place in 1980?

that's my little rant for today. :-)
Laura





-----Original Message-----
From: Gupta [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 8:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: IVF risks


Dear Doug and Betsy,
Thanks for your contributions. I recently read (on a flight to the UK)
an article  `Checks on IVF children'' in the British tabloid Daily Mail
of 23 Oct.2002, p. 16-17 by Tim Hutton and Jeremy Hope. Besides
the risks for women associated with the fertility inducing drugs and
the technique of ICSI, it also mentions risks of pregnancies
resulting from frozen embryos.
I quote:
"Lord Winston, Prof. of fertility studies at Imperial College School of
Medicine.... plans to publish research showing that freezing
embryos affects the normal activity of vital genes.
He said "Essentially we have reason to believe that gene
expression may change after different injuries and we've got some
evidence to support that (with frozen embryos).
Basic functions such as growth, respiration and metabolism are
regulated by genes, and if you change the way those genes are
expressed -even temporarily - during times of rapid development,
such as an embryo, you may well expect to see changes in the
way the embryo develops."

The article mentions that the HEFA is setting up long-term checks
to assess any risks from the treatments.

I believe the risks for women and children related to IVF and related
technologies needs to be taken up as a serious public health issue
and discussed more widely.

Jyotsna A. Gupta, sociologist
Senior Researcher Leiden University Medical Center
Lecturer Gender and Diversity, University for Humanistics, Utrecht
The Netherlands