New screening demand over health fears for IVF babies

[Guest guest]

Research shows IVF children are taller and thinner than other people in

general. N

 

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=575475

 

New screening demand over health fears for IVF babies

By Maxine Frith Social Affairs Correspondent

24 October 2004

 

 

The Government's fertility watchdog has admitted it now wants to monitor the

long- term health effects of IVF treatment a quarter of a century after the

first test-tube baby was born.

 

Experts are warning that the huge advances in fertility treatment in recent

years have not been accompanied by large-scale studies to test the safety of

techniques. There are fears that IVF children are more likely to suffer

long-term illnesses such as genetic disorders, behavioural problems and

physical disabilities, storing up huge problems in the future.

 

But owing to patient confidentiality, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology

Authority, which regulates fertility treatment in Britain, has not been able

to monitor the long-term health of IVF babies.

 

A few small studies presented last week at the annual meeting of the

American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the world's biggest fertility

conference, suggested that some IVF children have higher rates of rare

genetic disorders, behavioural problems and physical abnormalities.

 

The HFEA is calling for a change in the law which would allow it to set up a

national registry of every procedure performed in private and NHS clinics.

 

Details of all the techniques and the health of resulting children could

then be anonymised and provided for research and analysis.

 

The register would be the first and largest of its kind in the world and

would provide definitive figures on the outcomes of fertility-treatment

children compared to those conceived naturally.

 

A spokeswoman for the HFEA said: " A database would be the best way of

monitoring these children from the time they are conceived right through

their lives.

 

" At the moment the privacy restrictions are so tight that we cannot share

our data with anyone. We couldn't even let the National Audit Office audit

clinic outcomes.

 

" We believe that IVF is safe and we review all the available evidence before

allowing procedures to take place, but until there is a really big study out

there that can give us a definitive picture, we won't know. "

 

The database would work in the same way as the national cancer registry,

which has provided a wealth of detail about the prevention, treatment and

risks associated with the disease.

 

More than one million children have been created as a result of IVF since

Louise Brown (pictured below), the world's first test tube baby, was born in

1978. Around 6,000 babies are born every year in Britain as a result of

fertility treatment.

 

But there are increasing concerns over the long-term impact of IVF and in

particular, new techniques developed in recent years.

 

One of the most controversial procedures is intra-cytoplasmic sperm

injection (ICSI), in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.

 

The procedure has a high success rate, particularly in cases where the man

is infertile, but there are concerns that it could cause embryo damage and

be linked to an increased rate of genetic disorders.

 

One study has shown that ICSI babies have a 9.5 per cent risk of

abnormality - more than twice the rate of naturally conceived children.

 

Another area of concern is preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), where

embryos are screened for certain disorders and healthy ones selected for

transfer to a woman's womb.

 

The process could help to ensure that carriers of inherited diseases do not

pass them on to their children, but it could also be used for " social

reasons " such as selecting the sex of a baby. There are also concerns around

using frozen sperm and eggs rather than fresh tissue for fertility

treatment.

 

Lord Winston, one of Britain's foremost experts on fertility, is among those

who have warned about the dangers of the lack of research into new

procedures. At a conference last year, he said: " I'm not saying we should

stop any of these treatments.

 

" The problem is that we are doing things in the laboratories which are not

actually being tested as they should be.

 

" While the early reports of IVF were wholly reassuring in terms of the

abnormality rate, there is now a lot of data out there in the public arena

which suggests that some procedures actually, under certain circumstances,

might be quite dangerous. "

 

A spokesman for the anti-abortion charity Life said: " The HFEA proposal for

a database is welcome but it is really too little, too late.

 

" We do not know that procedures such as ICSI or PGD are safe, and until we

have done that study there should be an immediate and complete ban on these

techniques. "

 

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act is now 14 years old and is

currently being reviewed by the Government in order to bring it up to date

with the new techniques.

 

In its recommendations to the review, the HFEA has called for changes in the

data restrictions in order to allow the setting up of a national IVF

registry.

 

A public consultation on the proposed changes is due to take place early

next year.

24 October 2004 14:54

 

Search this site:

 

Printable Story