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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