Posts Tagged ‘IVF’

Thousands march in France against IVF

Thursday, October 10th, 2019

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Paris on Sunday. They were opposing a bill allowing single women and lesbian couples under the age of 43 access to in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. In France, IVF is currently restricted to heterosexual couples who are married or have cohabited at least two years. Besides broadening Read more

Medical professionals’ conscientious objection rights clarified

Thursday, March 22nd, 2018

The rights of medical professionals’ conscientious objection to participating in medical procedures to which their beliefs are opposed are being clarified in the British Parliament. The Conscientious Objection (Medical Activities) Act 2017 would defend healthcare workers in England and Wales from partaking in the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, IVF or similar fertility treatments, or abortion Read more

IVF’s sorry legacy: infertility and poor health outcomes

Tuesday, November 15th, 2016

IVFs sorry legacy is that many IVF “babies” may inherit their parents’ fertility problems. They are also more likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes and cancer. Although the difference between the health outcomes from IVF babies and others is small, research shows genes behave differently in IVF babies. IVF – or in vitro fertilisation – Read more

Pope condemns right to die, anti-life ethos

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014

Pope Francis denounced the right to die movement on Saturday, saying that euthanasia is a sin against God and creation. The Latin American pontiff said it was a “false sense of compassion” to consider euthanasia as an act of dignity. He classified as equally false the belief that abortion helps women. Rather, the image of Read more

1000s of fertility samples may be destroyed

Friday, November 14th, 2014

Eggs, sperm and embryo samples of almost 2000 people are set to be lawfully destroyed as a ten year storage time deadline approaches. In 2004, the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act was passed governing the practice of fertility treatment. In 2010 the legislation was amended allowing the retrospective 10-year storage period for eggs, sperm and Read more

Making IVF babies

Friday, October 25th, 2013

Rachel and Stuart Maloney’s small townhouse at Pottsville on the northern NSW coast is a happy home. Wedding pictures hang on the walls and colourful toys are scattered through the living room where toddler Nate plays chasey with his dad. This joyful scene of family life has not come easy. In 2007, Stuart and Rachel Read more

UK to create IVF babies with three people’s DNA

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

The United Kingdom looks set to become the first country in the world to allow the creation of IVF babies using DNA from three people. The government said it would draft regulations to allow human embryos to be created in this way to avoid mitochondrial diseases. But the director of Human Genetics Alert, called the Read more

Acart formulating guidelines for the import and export of human eggs or sperm and embryos

Friday, June 7th, 2013

The Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (Acart), has been seeking public opinion on its “Background Paper for stakeholder discussion on the Import and Export of Gametes and Embryos”. Submissions closed on 31 May. The committee is the first of a two stage approach to talking with stakeholders about the issues. In this first stage they have presented arguments about six Read more

Study concludes frozen embryos are better than fresh

Friday, September 7th, 2012

Using frozen embryos gets better results for mother and baby in IVF treatments, a study concludes. The study showed that babies which grow from thawed embryos are less likely to be born preterm or underweight and have a lower risk of dying in the days after their birth. Thawed embryos also reduced the risk of bleeding Read more

Maltese bishops criticise IVF for frozen orphanages

Friday, August 3rd, 2012

By freezing superfluous embryos, the procedure of in vitro fertilisation is “creating new orphanages”, the Catholic bishops of Malta have said in a pastoral letter. The letter says parents shirk their responsibility if they agree to the freezing of their children, and the future of embryos in the frozen orphanages is “very bleak”. The freezing Read more