The perils of cheap fertility drugs
By Professor Bill Ledger,
BBC News
| 04. 21. 2010
[Commentary]
VIEWPOINT
Professor Bill Ledger, Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Sheffield University
During the 90s multiple births rose as doctors implanted a number of embryos into women having IVF - this has since been reduced.
But the multiple birth rate is still on the increase.
In this week's Scrubbing Up, leading fertility expert Professor Bill Ledger says part of the problem is the liberal use of cheap fertility drugs, and warns there will be dire consequences if this does not end.
There can be no doubt that having one child at a time is best for both mother and baby.
Multiple births often happen too early, with risk of neonatal illness needing intensive care, and sometimes permanent disability as a result.
Rates of twin and triplet birth were too high in the UK the 1990s because well-meaning fertility specialists were transferring too many embryos after IVF.
" These drugs need tighter control because whilst the high tech end of fertility medicine is highly regulated in UK, any doctor can prescribe these drugs "
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has...
Related Articles
By Azeen Ghorayshi and Sarah Kliff, The New York Times | 08.12.2024
An emerging movement against in vitro fertilization is driving some doctors and patients in red states to move or destroy frozen embryos.
The embryo migration is most striking in Alabama, where the State Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos...
By Editorial Staff, The Lancet | 07.20.2024
Image by DrKontogianniIVF from Wikimedia Commons
Despite major advances in securing sexual and reproductive rights globally, one aspect is continually neglected: infertility. Evolving gender norms and financial precariousness have led to delayed childbearing, which increases infertility in both males and...
By Staff, AP-NORC | 07.12.2024
Image by Dr. Jayesh Amin from Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by-SA 3.0
Most adults support protecting access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a type of fertility treatment where eggs are combined with sperm outside the body in a...
By Julia Black and Margaux MacColl, The Information [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 07.19.2024
When venture capitalist Jack Abraham first began dating his wife, Gabriella Massamillo, he insisted on one condition: that when they were ready to have children, she’d be willing to conceive using in vitro fertilization. Abraham had lost both his mother...