The British Medical Journal published a new paper that said that fertility treatment facilities must be more transparent about the treatments offered. While this applies to the UK, what is the fertility treatment like in Malaysia? We speak to fertility specialist Dr Helena Lim who walks us through the whole process from start to end.
Question: We are thinking of going through an IVF, but we are concerned whether IVF babies have higher risk of abnormalities. We are also concerned that IVF babies are less healthy than their counter-parts and have shorter life-span, is it true?
Dr Helena’s answer:
Since the advent of IVF and Assisted Reproductive Technology, there had been constant debates on its safety and implication towards the health of the next generation. One of the biggest concerns is whether these fertility treatment will give rise to increase risk of congenital abnormalities in babies born as a result of IVF.
These debates and concerns are certainly valid. After all, the process of IVF in creating life outside human body in a Petri dish and then putting them back into the human body to let it grow into a baby is certainly mind blowing. How would we ensure that the doctors and scientists know what they are doing? And mind you, the IVF process were the results of many trials and errors. What makes you think the product (which is the baby), is not plagued with defects and errors?
Intensive research in the early years, and a thriving population that has now grown to more than 5 million IVF children worldwide, have reassured scientists, but they have not stopped studying and trying to improve the process.
Recent discoveries in epigenetics – the study of how environmental factors can affect gene activity, and how a person’s risk of getting chronic diseases is “programmed” into them before they are even born – have opened up new possibilities.
Much of today’s research stems from the Barker hypothesis, which proposes that birth weight may be linked to the likelihood of getting certain diseases. IVF babies are known to have lower average birth weights – even if the difference, at about 20-30 grams, is small. Scientists are now investigating whether IVF conception equates with more hospital admissions, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and diabetes in later life. However, there is no good evidence as yet to suggest likewise
A recent study by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, which linked 106, 381 HFEA register records from 1992-2008 to the UK’s National Registry of Childhood Tumours (NRCT) is one of the largest population-based linkage studies ever carried out. This study has found no association between ART and childhood cancer. This finding offers comfort to those patients facing the difficult decision about whether to undergo fertility treatment or not.
In 2012, scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) looked at birth defects among infants born both via IVF and conceived through natural means in California, which has the country’s highest rate of IVF use. They included babies born after IVF and other assisted reproductive treatments such as couples’ use of fertility-enhancing drugs and artificial insemination.
Among 4795 babies born after IVF and 46,025 infants who were conceived naturally, 3,463 babies had congenital birth defects. Even after controlling for factors that can affect such birth defects, such as mother’s age, and race, which can influence rates of genetic and environmentally driven developmental disorders, 9% of infants born after IVF had birth defects compared to 6.6% of babies who were conceived naturally. Overall, the babies born after IVF were 1.25 times more likely to be born with abnormalities. The researchers did not find a link between birth defects and other fertility treatments like artificial insemination or ovulation induction.
It’s possible that the higher rate of abnormalities with IVF is due in part to whatever was contributing to infertility in the first place, say the researchers. But some of the researchers’ view was the fact that an increase was not seen among babies conceived using artificial insemination or ovulation induction suggests that process of IVF itself, in which eggs are removed from a woman, fertilized in a dish with sperm and then allowed to develop into embryos, which are transplanted back into the womb, is the primary culprit.
However, another more recent study in 2016 by researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of Melbourne. The study reviewed all assisted reproduction technologies carried out in South Australia over a 16-year period from 1986 to 2002.
This was linked to data on birth outcomes from the South Australian Birth Defects Register (SABDR). The register includes a record of all live births, stillbirths, terminations, birth weight and congenital defects. Birth defects were also followed up for five years. The researchers looked at the statistical link between maternal factors and birth defects, and compared this between babies either conceived naturally or by IVF and ICSI. The study found no statistically significant increase in birth defect. There was some suggestion by the press that this study suggest that IVF reduces the incidence of birth defect in women after the age of 40, but was refuted by the research group due to its misleading nature.
With the advent of Pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) & Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which is fast gaining popularity, scientist can now screen embryos to exclude chromosomal and genetic abnormalities. The use of these technologies may further decrease the incidence of birth defect and congenital abnormalities associated with chromosomal defects or genetic issues. However, more long term data is required to support this hypotheses.
In conclusion, although there had been great hypothetical concerns about the risk of cancers & birth defects amongst babies born following Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART), the actual link is difficult to establish due to many confounding factors such as parental age, the cause of infertility and etc. the actual incidence of childhood cancers and birth defects are small and should not be a great stumbling stone to those who are considering going through fertility treatment to have their babies
However, if you have no embryos frozen, what is your option?
This chart below showed a cumulative live IVF births from a study conducted.
This study looked at all the women under the age of 42, who are going through IVF.
The study revealed that the pregnancy rate is around 40% in this group of women after they completed their first cycle of IVF. For those women who did not get pregnant the first round and went on having the second round of IVF, there were another 20% who got pregnant after the second round. Therefore, by the 4th IVF cycle, around 80% of women would have achieved a live birth.
This statistic clearly shows that if you persevere and keep moving on, chances of you getting pregnant by the end of the 4th IVF is around 80%.
Therefore, it is not unusual for Fertility doctors to encourage our patients to keep moving on because the statistics had clearly show us the evidence.
To improve your chance of pregnancy for the next IVF, it is important to improve the quality of your eggs and sperms by eating healthy and improve lifestyle, quit habits which can potentially jeopardize your success rates such as smoking, alcohol and stress. Speak to your fertility doctor about what are the other options in your IVF treatment.
Endometrial scratching to improve IVF success rates
Couples who are struggling with infertility often seek In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment in order to improve their chances of starting a family. But what happens when you have gone through multiple unsuccessful IVF cycles? Is there something else you can try?
Many patients who’ve experienced this first hand, have asked me this question, eager to try out something new to enhance their chances in the next IVF cycle. Therefore, today, I’d like to tell you more about a procedure called endometrial scratching, which has become increasingly popular in recent years.
What is it?
Endometrial scratching is a procedure that involves agitation of the endometrium, which is the mucus membrane that lines the uterus. For conception to occur, a fertilised egg has to successfully implant itself into the wall of the uterus. Sometimes, implantation fails, usually due to the quality of the embryo or the receptivity of the endometrium. In endometrial scratching, a fertility specialist passes a special thin catheter or pipille through a woman’s cervix. The pipille is then moved up and down to gently make tiny scratches or scrapes in the uterine lining. The similar effect can also be achieved by introducing a hysteroscope through the cervix to visualised the lining of the uterus during polyps removal.
Why is it done?
In theory, endometrial scratching is believed to trigger the uterus to repair itself and develop a new lining, which will be more receptive to an embryo implanting. While the effectiveness of the procedure needs further investigation, studies that have been done on endometrial scratching in recent years have shown encouraging results.
One such study was conducted by the University of Nottingham, UK, which involved 158 women who had undergone unsuccessful IVF procedures. The women were divided into two groups, with one group given the endometrial scratching procedure. As a result, they found the women who had undergone the scratching procedure achieved a 49% pregnancy rate, compared to 29% in the other group.
In another study involving 1000 women, presented at the annual meeting of European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), endometrial scratching is said to increase pregnancy success rates for couples trying to conceive naturally or with Intrauterine Insemination (IUI).
When is it done?
The endometrial scratching procedure is usually recommended for patients who’ve experienced multiple unsuccessful IVF cycles or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) treatment. The procedure is best performed prior to a woman’s period or right after the period. It is done before an IVF or frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycle begins.
Does it hurt?
While the endometrial scratching procedure has been described as generally painless, requiring no anaesthetic, some women do experience discomfort during and after the procedure. The pain is similar to period cramps and there may be slight bleeding afterwards. To help with possible discomfort, patients are advised to take over-the-counter pain medication about an hour before undergoing the scratching procedure.
If you’ve gone through several IVF attempts and are keen on learning more about endometrial scratching, take the next step and ask your fertility specialist if it is right for you.
What you should know about AMH
When you seek medical advice for infertility issues, one of the hormone tests that you be advice to take is the Anti-Mullerian Hormone or AMH test. This test measures the AMH levels in your blood, which helps doctors determine your ovarian or egg reserve.
In this post, I’ll explain what egg reserves and AMH tests are, as well as what you can do if your AMH levels are low:
About egg reserves
Humans are born with a limited amount of eggs. To be precise, a girl is born with between one to two million immature eggs or follicles in her ovaries. But not all these follicles will survive into adulthood. In fact, throughout a woman’s life, the majority of her immature eggs will die in a natural process called atresia.
Did you know that by the time a girl has her first period, only about 400,000 follicles are left? And with each subsequent period, she loses about a thousand follicles, while just one matures into an ovum or egg. This means, throughout her reproductive life, a woman will develop only about 400 ovum. The number of developing follicles a woman has left, is called her “ovarian or egg reserve.”
Egg reserves and the quality of those eggs vary from one woman to another, due to factors such as age and infertility. Over time, both the quantity and quality of a woman’s eggs gradually decreases. Therefore, when seeking treatment for infertility, it is important for a woman to gain insight into the remaining quantity of her egg reserve and fertile years.
What is AMH?
When follicles develop in a woman’s egg reserve, her body release the Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH). AMH levels, therefore, can give us a good idea of the state of a woman’s ovarian reserve. Since AMH levels are determined by the number of developing follicles in a woman’s ovaries, low AMH levels are an indication that the ovarian reserve is depleted.
Fewer developing follicles mean slimmer chances for a mature and healthy egg to be released and fertilised. As such, when a woman knows the state of her egg reserve, she can determine how urgently she requires treatment.
AMH testing
While egg reserves generally decline in the mid to late 30s, leading to low AMH, age is not the only factor. Environmental factors can also cause low AMH, such as cancer treatment and inherited genetic causes. AMH levels can be easily assessed with a blood test, but like most diagnostic tests, it has its limitations. For example, it cannot indicate the quality of the eggs that are left, which requires a separate test. However, as AMH levels remain fairly constant in a woman’s cycle, she can have the test at any time.
What Can’t AMH tells you
As much as we would like to believe that AMH is ‘the ultimate test’ for ovarian reserves, however, it only tells us some aspect of your fertility performances but not all. AMH does not tell you the quality of your eggs. Therefore, some women who have plenty of eggs and high AMH level may not perform well in an IVF treatment cycle because of poor egg quality.
For women who take oral contraceptive pills, AMH level may not be a true reflection of their ovarian reserves. Those who were taking the pill had 19 percent lower levels of AMH and 16 percent fewer early-stage follicles.
Recently, there has been clinical studies which reported that there is a significant variation in serum AMH levels across the menstrual cycle regardless of ovulatory status. This variability, although statistically significant, is not large enough to warrant a change in current clinical practice to time AMH measurements to cycle day/phase.
What you can do
If you should take an AMH test and find that your level is low, do not lose heart! Your AMH level is just one piece in a complex jigsaw puzzle. Your best course of action is to discuss matters with your infertility specialist. Ask your doctor how you can protect your egg count and health, as well as discuss the best possible solution to your problem. For example, DHEA supplementation and well-managed IVF protocols have been shown to be effective in improving IVF pregnancy rates in women with low AMH. Maintain a positive outlook and don’t give up on your dreams of having a baby!
Dr Helena Lim 