4th July 2013 | by MFC Team
World’s first baby born from a new “natural” IVF procedure that may be safer and less risky
As part of the typical treatment during in vitro fertilization (IVF) a woman is injected with artificial hormones (human chorionic gonadotropin hCG) to help her produce viable eggs, which are then extracted from her ovaries, fertilized with a man’s sperm, and inserted into her uterus. However, a new IVF procedure involves using a naturally occurring hormone (kisspeptin) to induce the maturation of a woman’s eggs. Kisspeptin is reportedly safer than artificial hormones, and may reduce some risks associated with IVF, particularly ovarian hyperstimuation syndrome (OHSS).
Together with her husband Michael, 34 year old Susannah Kidd tried unsuccessfully for a year to get pregnant. She was diagnosed with “unexplained infertility”, subsequently underwent conventional IVF and eventually became pregnant with her two year old son, Lochlann. Although Suzannah and Michael wanted to have another child, they weren’t eligible to receive any further treatments on the National Health Service (NHS), so they voluntarily participated in a study being conducted by researchers at Hammersmith Hospital’s IVF Unit and Imperial College evaluating the new kisspeptin IVF procedure. Suzannah started treatments almost a year ago in July, and says she didn’t notice any differences between conventional IVF and the newer procedure. Seven weeks ago Suzannah Kidd gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Heath – the world’s first baby to have been conceived and birthed after using this new IVF treatment.
An additional ten women have conceived after undergoing this new treatment. Experts suggest that this new procedure may be widely available within a few years.
To read more about this new procedure, click here.
Read another article about IVF and kisspeptin here.
To read more about ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, click here.
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