News

ROME, Italy, March 2, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In vitro fertilization (IVF), now the standard treatment for infertility in the United States, last weekend received a harsh assessment from one of the world’s leading experts on infertility. Dr. Thomas Hilgers dismissed IVF as ineffective, costly and unethical compared to the more natural and more successful Napro Technology method, in remarks addressed to a Feb. 24 Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) Assembly in Rome.

Image

Hilgers, representing the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska, wowed participants at the conference with his research data proving the clear superiority of Napro Technology in treating infertility problems.

Listen to 6-minute audio of excerpts from Dr. Hilgers talk:

Many participants at the Vatican-sponsored PAV conference on “The Management of Infertility Today” were dismayed to hear Church-prohibited IVF technology repeatedly presented as a legitimate solution for women with particular infertility conditions by other speakers. Dr. Hilgers, perhaps the world’s leading expert on resolving infertility issues naturally, forcefully addressed the weaknesses of the IVF-related comments during his half-hour talk and later during the Q & A at the end of the Assembly.

Hilgers emphasized that, unlike Napro, “IVF approaches the evaluation of treatment by skipping over the diseases…they don’t look for root causes.” He noted that in 1978, when IVF treatments began to be used, fertility specialists did not understand the causes of infertility and bypassed addressing that challenge in favor of the financial and limited pregnancy success they were having with IVF.

The result of this incorrect emphasis, Hilgers stated, was that “we’ve lost 30-35 years of really good research” and “probably would have had a cure for infertility by now had we not gone the IVF route.”

According to Hilgers, the negligence of IVF specialists produces the result that “women who go to an IVF clinic with a certain disease will go away with the same disease because it’s never been treated.”

Endrometriosis (a female health disorder that occurs when cells from the lining of the uterus grow in other areas of the body) is a far more common cause of infertility than IVF specialists realize, said Hilgers. He stated, “77% of our patients have endometriosis” whereas, the “National Summary says only 4.6% of patients in an IVF center have endometriosis.”

The reason those statistics are so very different, Hilgers told the PAV Assembly, is that IVF practitioners are “not looking for it.” Hilgers related that many patients who come to him after repeated, unsuccessful IVF attempts, have told him the same story, saying of the IVF doctors they went to, “They won’t listen to me” when they realize they may have endometriosis or other physical conditions needing treatment.

The high loss of embryonic human lives through IVF was decried by Hilgers. He reported that “the number of embryos lost in IVF is about 6 ½ to 1,” with the result that “IVF is a highly abortive technology.”

The multiple pregnancy rate difference was also reported. “The multiple pregnancy rate in IVF is 32%. The multiple pregnancy rate in our program (Natpro Technology) is 3.2%.  The prematurity rate is 12% vs 7%.”

Hilgers charged the evidence shows that “99.5% of women who have a fertility problem are not served by IVF. It is a very unresponsive, expensive medical approach that frankly does not meet the needs of the population that it is supposed to serve.”

Unlike IVF, many different diseases and conditions are identified and frequently successfully treated by Napro Technology practitioners, said Hilgers. “The total woman pregnancy rate is higher with Napro Technology and it’s not built on a foundation of destroying life. It’s built in a foundation of nurturing it and it is more cost effective.”

Hilgers received strong applause after his talk, seeming to indicate a resounding affirmation of his response to previous comments favoring IVF and also acknowledging the high quality of the scientific evidence presented by the Napro Technology pioneer.

Dr. Hilgers has spoken all over the world about his research and has videos, audio podcasts and other resources available on his website.