Ivf

Fertility scientists gathered in Stockholm last week to present their latest research on in vitro fertilization, high-risk pregnancies and other topics at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference. Among the highlights: British researchers have figured out a way to assess which pregnant women are at greatest risk of miscarriage. After studying 112 high-risk women during their sixth through 10th weeks of pregnancy, the researchers determined that the amount of a woman's bleeding and her level of the hormone chorionic gonadotrophin could be combined into a “pregnancy viability index” that accurately predicted which women would go on to continue their pregnancies in 94% of cases as well as which would have miscarriages in 77% of cases.

For couples seeking to overcome infertility by turning to assisted reproductive technology - which can be invasive and expensive - an increased risk of birth defects probably won't stand in their way. Still, a study released Saturday by the New England Journal of Medicine may give some prospective parents a little something to think about as they mull their options for fertility treatment. The study is based on data from more than 300,000 births in the state of South Australia (population 1.6 million)

British biologist Robert G. Edwards, whose contributions to the technology of in vitro fertilization have made more than 4 million couples parents, has been awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. Working with Dr. Patrick Steptoe, Edwards, now 85, developed the techniques for removing mature eggs from a woman's ovaries, fertilizing them in test tubes and inducing them to begin dividing before implanting them back in the mother. Their efforts yielded the July 25, 1978, birth of Louise Brown, the first "test tube baby," both demonstrating the success and the safety of the technique and bringing hope to infertile people all over the world.

A Michigan woman gave birth to four girls and a boy in what a hospital said today was the first delivery of "test-tube" quintuplets in the United States. The quintuplets, delivered by Caesarean section at Beaumont Hospital in suburban Royal Oak late Monday, ranged in weight from 1 pound, 14 1/2 ounces, to 3 pounds, 2 1/2 ounces, and were "in good shape," spokeswoman Deb Mero said. The births were about a month premature, she said.

Liam Neeson was a good sport for a national TV audience Monday afternoon, stripping down to snug pink underpants and gamely taking a soaking in the name of breast cancer research. Entering Ellen DeGeneres' stage to the strains of "Give It to Me Baby" while clad in a pink bathrobe, the "Taken 2" action star got his flirt on after DeGeneres explained to all that he'd be sitting in a dunk tank to earn $10,000 for the cause, helping kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month. "If I take this off, does the $10,000 become $20,000?

When I first heard about Personhood USA, I got it confused with Up with People, the organization best known for song-and-dance troupes that go around the world singing songs like "Which Way America?" and "What Color Is God's Skin?" When I realized it was actually an anti-abortion group devoted to the idea that any fertilized human egg should be considered a person, I still couldn't shake the image of wholesome young performers spreading fetus love across the globe. Instead of singing about peace and "dances through the ages" they could sing about zygotes and implantation, though admittedly those lyrics might be tough to rhyme.

The British media is abuzz with news that a triplet was born 11 years after her twin sisters. It seems that, in the age of frozen embryos, all is possible. The Daily Mail newspaper says experts proclaim the delayed birth to be a "record gap" for babies conceived at the same time via in vitro-fertilization. Twins Bethany and Megan Shepherd were born in Britain in 1998 and their remaining sister, Ryleigh, was born last month. Apparently the Shepherds have more embryos from the same batch on ice, the story says.

Americans have long gone to China to adopt babies. In a twist, Chinese couples are now coming here to become parents — through surrogacy. China does not permit surrogate parenting, but that country's rising affluence has given many couples the option of coming to U.S. surrogacy clinics. California, with its large Chinese American community and its courts' liberal attitude toward surrogacy, is a prime destination. Jerry Zhu and Grace Sun of Beijing have so far saved $60,000 toward the expected $100,000 cost of surrogate birth.

Jackie Apuzzo is 16 weeks pregnant -- something she was beginning to think would never happen. Following nine years of unsuccessful efforts to have a baby, including failed in vitro fertilization, a miscarriage and a diagnosis of endometriosis, the 37-year-old social worker finally visited an acupuncturist on the advice of a friend. After two months of acupuncture treatments and a regimen of Chinese herbs, she became pregnant.

Dr. Ernest Zeringue was looking for a niche in the cutthroat industry of fertility treatments. He seized on price, a huge obstacle for many patients, and in late 2010 began advertising a deal at his Davis, Calif., clinic unheard of anywhere else: Pregnancy for $9,800 or your money back. That's about half the price for in vitro fertilization at many other clinics, which do not include money-back guarantees. Typically, insurance coverage is limited and patients pay again and again until they give birth - or give up. Those patients use their own eggs and sperm - or carefully select donors when necessary - and the two are combined in a petri dish to create a batch of embryos.