Current News brought to you by the Institute:

10-16-02

Gay adoption a step closer (BBC)
Gay couples have moved a step closer to being allowed to adopt children with the defeat of a last Commons move to block the change. The MPs vote came as Parliament continued to debate a bill which would let unmarried couples, both heterosexual and gay, adopt. MPs defeated by 301 votes to 174 an attempt by two Conservative MPs to exclude same-sex couples from the change in the law.

Plea from sperm donor children (BBC)
Children conceived with donated sperm have a right to know about their biological fathers, the High Court has been told. The government is currently carrying out a consultation exercise to determine whether the existing laws should be changed.

10-15-02

Stress may be a factor in conception (Journal News)
A growing body of scientific evidence is beginning to support the notion that stress indeed may play a role in the quest for a baby. A recent study found that women undergoing in-vitro fertilization who had higher levels of stress produced fewer eggs and so had fewer embryos to be transferred into their wombs than their more relaxed counterparts.

Sperm donors 'want to keep anonymity' (BBC)
Sperm donors in the UK want to retain the right to anonymity, and would stop donating if the rules were changed, a BBC survey has shown. The government is expected to reveal next year if it wants to change the law to allow children born through donor insemination to identify their biological father. In Sweden, where donors can be identified, couples are becoming "fertility tourists", and heading to countries which have retained anonymity for treatment.

Male biological clock is ticking (BBC)
The chances of a man having children dip past his 35th birthday, researchers have found. The researchers, from the University of Washington in Seattle, found that damage to the genetic material containing sperm cells increases with age.

10-12-02

Doctors group to vote on homosexual adoption (Washington Times)
A national organization of family doctors will vote next week on whether to endorse adoption by homosexuals, a possibility that has some family groups in an uproar. The American Academy of Family Physicians will consider two resolutions approving same-sex adoption and domestic-partner benefits. Both resolutions are sponsored by the AAFP's New York chapter. There is a third resolution urging acceptance of a "gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered" delegate on the AAFP's constituency committee.

10-11-02

Frozen egg birth brings IVF hope (BBC)
The first British woman to become pregnant using her own frozen eggs has given birth to a healthy baby girl. The egg was frozen, stored and then thawed. It was transferred into her womb last year and baby Emily was born three months ago. The success of the revolutionary procedure will give hope to women who fear losing their chance to have children through cancer or other illnesses. But it could also mean healthy women could use the technique to delay having children.

10-10-02

Supreme Court considers grandparents' rights case (St. Petersburg Times)
(AP) State Supreme Court justices listened Wednesday to arguments in an adoption battle between a toddler's grandparents and a couple who want to adopt the boy. It's not up to the high court to decide who will get to adopt the child, who turned 2 last week. The issue is whether the boy's grandparents can intervene in the adoption process.

A nest that's never empty (Charlotte News-Observer)
Foster care, adopted children keep Johnston County household busy.

10-08-02

Fertility Clinics Begin to Address Mental Health (NY Times)
In the past decade, fertility experts have made major advances in reproductive technology. They have learned how to inject a single microscopic sperm into an egg to ensure fertilization; they can retrieve an egg from one woman, fertilize it and implant it into another's uterus; and they have succeeded in freezing a young woman's eggs so she could have access to them later in life when she is ready to reproduce. But increasingly these experts are finding that they must pay attention to the most fundamental and low-tech of issues, the emotional health of their infertility patients. In the past two years, about half of the 370 infertility centers approved by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology have expanded their psychological services by hiring psychologists, starting support groups and holding programs and stress-reduction workshops, according to Resolve, a national infertility support organization.

10-07-02

Soaring egg donation prices causing ethical concerns (North Jersey News)
The going rate for a woman's eggs has now reached $7,500 - triple what it was just four years ago. It's the latest move by clinics in a fiercely competitive market to supply eggs to patients lining up at their doors. The increased fee - which is passed on directly to the infertile couple - puts clinics in a quandary. Higher compensation has helped attract more women willing to inject themselves with ovary-stimulating hormones and give up the eggs. But some fear the spiraling cost of egg donation will further price out many couples for whom a younger woman's egg is their last shot at pregnancy.

New procedures give hope to couples facing male infertility (San Antonio Express-News)
At the Fertility Center of San Antonio, for example, the causes of infertility are evenly divided — 40 percent of the time it is the female, 40 percent the male, and in 20 percent of cases, it is a combination of problems with both. The good news is men with some sort of blockage can be helped through sperm aspiration conducted in minimally invasive office procedures under sedation or local anesthetic. Sperm aspiration in combination with intracytoplasmic sperm injection into the woman's egg in the laboratory — a method used in in vitro fertilization — produces a good success rate of pregnancies and deliveries.

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