November 14, 2016 (SPUC) — Official figures show that 60 women were admitted to hospital with severe ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS) in 2015- a 40% increase from the previous year.
Fertility doctors have warned that the increase could be driven by doctors giving women stronger drugs to harvest more of their eggs. Nick Macklon, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Southampton, believes that recent improvements in embryo and egg freezing technology “may have encouraged clinicians to return to harder stimulation regimens”.
OHHS, which is triggered when the ovaries swell up and leak fluid, is potentially life threatening.
Meanwhile, in Australia, a consumer watchdog has found that IVF clinics are misleading coupes about their success rate.
Reprinted with permission from Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.