Some of the hazards of invitro maturation and fertilisation.
The new assisted conception technique, in vitro maturation, is taking immature eggs and maturing them outside the body. It has had some encouraging results with 400 live births so far, but scientists have absolutely no idea of the effects of using immature eggs or if there would be an adverse outcome to the child through not having part of its genetic material matured in the ovaries, as nature intended.
According to Dr. Allan Pacey from the British Fertility Society, there is some 'detectable' risks of cancer in babies born after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where a single sperm is injected into an egg. This process is used in all IVF procedures, including IVM.
He also says that ICSI babies are at heightened risk of having abnormalities of their sex chromosomes - something which I imagine may cause fertility problems when those babies grow to adulthood, therefore perpetuating the problem of infertility on future generations. As well as this, there is evidence of birth deformities.
As adults we can weigh up the pros and cons of a treatment and decide to accept or reject a treatment for ourselves. We can choose to accept side effects visited upon us by drugs and invasive procedures, but is it really fair to accept these risks - including cancer - for our babies, who after all, cannot speak for themselves? More research into outcomes needs to be undertaken, and maybe sperm could be placed in a dish with the eggs to fertilise in a more natural way? This might not be possible for many couples, or perhaps it is too ineffective, but no one has really thought about the effects of puncturing the egg with a needle and what damage that might do to DNA.
