MEDICAL JOURNAL REPORTS DANGERS OF IVF

WALTHAM, MA, Aug 27 (LSN) – A study on In Vitro Fertilization in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) admits that IVF often requires the death of many conceived embryos before one successful birth is achieved, calling multiple births a “high risk” factor.  IVF has a poor success rate in the first place, so the procedure invariably includes the implantation of multiple (usually 2-5) fertilized embryos in the mother in each “cycle” (attempt at successful impregnation of the embryo into the mothers womb). Cases when more than one of the embryos is successfully implanted in the mother’s womb are a risk factor to the woman. Also, in many cases, all but one of these unborn children are later aborted.  The study concluded that using two fertilized embryos per cycle rather than three would significantly reduce the chances of multiple births and that the use of only two embryos would not greatly affect the success of implantation compared with the use of three. Dr. David R. Meldrum and David K. Gardner,  writing in the journal, however, note that “pressures from couples and programs to maximize results make these goals difficult to achieve in practice.”  Statistics on IVF from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority reveal that, for the year ending in March 1995, over 95,000 fertilized embryos were killed to produce approximately 3,500 live births.