Two new papers from reproductive biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with international partners, report advances in understanding the basic processes of sperm capacitation that may one day improve success rates of in vitro fertilization (IVF) by providing a shortcut to bypass problems, and may eventually lead to a male contraceptive.
Tag: success rates
New Strategy May Boost Fertility Clinic Success Rate
Fewer than half of women seeking help from a fertility clinic succeed at having a baby after just one treatment. Now, some researchers believe they have come upon a way to improve those odds.
There is growing evidence suggesting that freezing an embryo after fertilization and thawing it for use in the woman’s next monthly cycle leads to higher pregnancy rates, compared with using the embryo immediately. A recent scientific review of three small randomized and controlled studies found that 50% of women got pregnant after receiving in vitro fertilization, or IVF, treatment using a recently frozen embryo. By contrast, women receiving fresh embryos had a 38% pregnancy rate. The review is slated for publication in Fertility and Sterility, the journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Read full article.
Researchers Puzzled by Reduced IVF Outcomes in Minority Patients
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. – Although there are hints, researchers remain largely baffled about why ethnic minority patients have lower pregnancy and live birth rates than do whites when they undergo in vitro fertilization, especially as natural conception rates do not appear to be disparate.
Many potential explanations have been hypothesized, including differences in obesity rates, leiomyomata prevalence, inflammatory processes, and estrogen metabolism, Dr. Marcelle I. Cedars said at a meeting on in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, which was sponsored by the University of California, Los Angeles.
None seem to fully account for diminished IVF outcomes in Asian Americans, blacks, and Hispanics. Pregnancy loss rates associated with assisted reproductive techniques also are higher for blacks and Hispanics, she noted.
Economic disparities and unequal access to IVF have been suggested as playing a role, but military studies, in which all patients have equal access to care, confirm reduced outcomes numerically – although the numbers did not quite reach statistical significance.
Dr. Cedars’ group at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has focused on IVF outcomes in Asian Americans, who represent approximately a third of their patient population. Differences came under scrutiny beginning about 6 years ago. Read full article.
Coping With High-Risk Pregnancy After Infertility Treatment
by Corey Whelan
As infertility technologies improve, so do success rates. Statistically, increases in pregnancy and live birth rates have been seen for women across all age ranges over the past decade. These success stories include pregnancies …
Continued Infertility Treatments Drive Pregnancy Successes
Women in their 30s and 40s who undergo multiple infertility treatments may be nearly as likely to deliver a baby as women who conceive naturally, according to new research that provides men and women with a more realistic view of their chances of becoming parents.
Until now, the success of in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) was based on live births following a single course of treatment, called a cycle. However, researchers for the first time have calculated cumulative success rates for women undergoing several treatment cycles. Among nearly 250,000 U.S. women treated with ART in 2004-2009, 57 percent achieved a live birth, they reported. In addition, 30 percent of all ART cycles were successful, they found.
“This study shows that if you keep at it …your chances of becoming pregnant continue to rise with continuing treatment,” said lead researcher Barbara Luke, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine in Lansing. “The takeaway message from this is you may need to look at infertility treatment over a course of cycles.”
NEJM Study Uses SART Data to Show ART Live-Birth Rates Approach Those of Natural Conception
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine links data from the SART Clinic Outcome Reporting System to show that, with favorable patient and embryo characteristics, ART live-birth rates approach those of natural conception.
ASRM and SART Respond to ART Linkage Study Published in New England Journal of Medicine
Leaders of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology reacted today to a new publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The article links the annual registry of assisted reproductive technology cycles with individuals to show the overall cumulative success rate of ART procedures to be 57%.