IVF

British women may soon be taking their fertility into their own hands. A small handheld device that measures tiny changes in body temperature has been found to have the same pregnancy success rate as the much more costly IVF for couples with common infertility issues. The Cambridge scientists behind DuoFertility ($777), claim that the device has a 99.7 percent accuracy rate for detecting fertile days leading to a pregnancy success rate of 19.5 percent after six months, the same as the more traditional IVF.

DuoFertility is a two-part fertility monitor. A small button-sized sensor is worn under the arm to collect 20,000 temperature measurements throughout the day. A handheld reader collects data from the sensor to instantly alert the user to her most fertile days. When connected to a computer, the reader transfers more fertility information to provide users with a more detailed report. The system also allows women trying to conceive to enter additional physiological parameters, such as cervical mucus conditions and length of cycle. With the cost of IVF often exceeding $100,000, would you be willing to try the monitor?

Where do babies come from isn't a simple conversation anymore. It's not always about a mom and a dad or a man and a woman since conception happens everywhere — in bedrooms, in hospitals, and laboratories. In some situations there's a doctor, a donor, a surrogate, or even an attorney involved. The birds and the bees have become a bit more complicated, but the sex talk still happens, and children inquire earlier. Kids are sharp, if you give them the 1950s spiel about a man loving a woman, they'll likely have more questions.

How did their friend with two dads come to be — is it time to talk surrogacy? Or what about the classmate who was adopted by a single mother? Fertility treatments are mainstream, should parents dole out the basics of IVF (In vitro fertilization) and IUI (intra-uterine insemination)? As medical breakthroughs continue there's even the prospect of a three-parent conception method, so where should the conversation with our children end? What will (did) you tell your kids?

When the US's first test-tube baby was born in 1981, baby-making was forever changed. Women who suffered from years of unsuccessful attempts at pregnancy were finally given an ounce of hope. Today, the procedure is so common that 38 percent of LilSugar readers assume IVF was involved when they hear about a multiple pregnancy.

Twenty-eight years after the first successful IVF transfer, success rates remain startlingly close to where they stood in the 1980s – around the 30 percent mark. The doctor who performed that first procedure, Dr. Howard Jones who is now 99-years-old, is calling on the professionals in his field to determine which embryos are most viable and thus reduce the number that are transferred into patients. Doing so will not only increase success rates, but will help bring down the costs of the procedure making it more affordable for more couples suffering from infertility.

Would you like to see the number of embryo transfers decrease?

Pregnancy doesn't come easily for many couples, and new studies show that those conceived through artificial means may not have it too easy once they are born. According to researchers, assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), may affect several genes, such as those tied to obesity and diabetes.

At the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting yesterday, doctors released their studies showing that the genes related to fat tissue development and glucose metabolism develop differently when a baby is conceived in a Petri dish, rather than in a human. The amount of oxygen the embryos receive is significantly higher outside of the womb.

As the first babies to be conceived through artificial means reach middle age, the typical time frame for obesity and diabetes to set in, doctors are calling for IVF-conceived adults to be carefully monitored.

Would concerns about the future health of your child affect your decision to pursue IVF?

Just like the story line behind last Summer's tearjerker, My Sister's Keeper, a BBC documentary that aired last night is raising ethical questions across the UK as it follows two families' attempts to conceive "savior children" to provide their current kids with bone marrow transplants.

The children suffer from Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic disease that prevents the body from producing blood, and their families have brought religious, medical, and economic issues to the table as they seek out help to create siblings that will provide the necessary bone marrow to save their older kids. To conceive children that will serve that purpose, they must screen, and then implant embryos that meet the genetic requirements. One couple has privately funded their four failed IVF attempts and is embarking on a fifth. The other, who have already lost one child to the disease, have successfully fought the nation's National Health Service to obtain government funding for one of their attempts at a successful embryo transfer.

Do you think the government should help families genetically engineer babies if they help save the life of another being?

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