Surrogacy is a wonderful gift choice for many women. At Specialists in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery we are continually looking for women to volunteer as surrogates and assume the responsibility of the pregnancy and delivery. What are the types of surrogates? Do you get paid or reimbursed for surrogacy? What does the process involve? Learn more at http://www.dreamababy.com/surrogacy-become.htm or call 239-275-8118.
The Fertility Chase, Episode 3, WE TV, 5/15/2010
The Fertility Chase (TFC) show today covered numerous concepts including genetic testing of the embryo, embryo donation (embryo adoption), egg donation and affordable infertility coverage.
Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis:
Edward L. Marut, M.D., from the The Fertility Centers of Illinois was featured in the first segment. The infertility couple, Kelly and Tom, was unable to conceive over a three years. Basic treatments were performed without success wherein they underwent In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) twice and failed. The final and successful outcome occurred when they did a third IVF procedure combining it with Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). In PGD, a single cell from each of the embryos is screened for chromosomal defects such as Down’s syndrome. Nine out of the possible 24 chromosomes were examined. PGD is commonly done for genetic disease, gender selection, to transfer a single embryo, recurrent miscarriage and when there is a history of failed implantation such as this couple. Apparently only two out of twelve sampled embryos were probed as normal. A male child was eventually delivered.
As women age, the quality and quantity of their eggs decrease. In this case, quality seemed to be the issue. While not every one agrees, it is thought that PGD may decrease miscarriage rates and decrease the delivery rates of genetically abnormal offspring such as Down’s syndrome. I too have used PGD to decipherer the reason why embryos have failed to implant and will frequently find that nearly all of the embryos are indeed genetically abnormal. PGD has its strengths and weaknesses, however, in this particular instance, it may truly have saved some time and heartbreak. I thought the piece was well done.
Embryo Donation:
OK, this is going to be hard to review as this was my own segment In the making for over a year, I thought Exodus Productions did a wonderful job with it. To view, please visit: http://www.vimeo.com/11762266.
Kerry (commissioning parent) and Christiana (surrogate) did an amazing job opening up their lives to the media to tell this important story.
Christiana (below) is the surrogate carrying Kerry's donated embryo.
Walt and Amy’s side of the story was that they would much rather donate their embryos than other alternatives should they never use them themselves. Amy is set to deliver very soon and I hope they use their own beautiful embryos for themselves but, in case their first child is a little hellion and they decide not to have any more (which I doubt), I would be more than happy to find a wonderful home for them.
Walter and Amy with baby in between.
None of this entire story would have been possible without the generosity of the couple that donated the embryos to Kerry. In addition, they did not stipulate that we couldn’t give their embryos to a single woman. This was an amazing gift from undoubtedly an amazing couple. Since these embryos came from a distant facility and not our own, I will probably never have the privilege of thanking them directly.
We will be covering the topic of embryo donation in great detail in the months to come. Right now, we have over 140 abandoned embryos and we are trying to get these designated to either personal use or embryo donation. I feel we are both patient and embryo advocates.
All kidding aside, I surely hope you enjoyed the segment as much as I did.
Egg Donation:
The third segment had many players from Long Island IVF, one of the busiest IVF facilities in the country. Reproductive Endocrinologists Dr. Daniel Kenigsbert and Steven Brenner and Embryologist Glenn Moodie, Ph.D. were the experts. Carolyn and Nicholas were a infertility couple and Donna was also a patient who sought treatment. The theme had to do with egg donation. As stated a few paragraphs above, as a woman ages, the quality and quantity of eggs decreased. At times, we also see young women who surprise us in that they seem to be very close or have actually entered menopause. When there aren’t enough healthy eggs around, an excellent option is egg donation.
I was struck by Donna’s story of four IVF cycles with one physician and another four with a different one. New York is a mandated state, which means that a certain amount of infertility has to be covered by insurance companies. I have unfortunately found that insurance coverage often leads to poor decisions. I had one patient recently that was told she was had to undergo six intra-uterine insemination procedures before doing IVF. The problem was that her Fallopian tubes were very damaged and severe pelvic adhesions were present. I recommended moving forward with adoption or IVF but IUI procedures were not on my radar screen. Doing IUI procedures was a very foolish and expensive (i.e., wasteful) step before IVF in this instance. Getting back to The Fertility Chase, Donna probably needed to move to egg or embryo donation long before the eighth IVF procedure. If none of them had been covered, she surely would have made the decision sooner and with less heartbreak.
Lastly, the egg donor stated it took weeks for her to complete the pages of needed information. Our patients have told us that it took less than 30 minutes to do it on our website (http://www.dreamababy.com/eggdonation.htm) . These are young patients and their medical histories should be pretty simple. Perhaps the donor was just being overly cautious but the TFC viewers or my readers should know that it isn’t that difficult or time consuming to do.
Cost of Infertility:
This was a great segment featuring the Gunderson Lutheran Fertility Center. Dr. Kathy Trumbull was the Reproductive Endocrinologist. Two couples were highlighted, Crystal and Larry as well as Bobbi Jo and Marty. Both of the men apparently had male-factor infertility, Crystal had polycystic ovarian syndrome and Bobbi Jo, stage I endometrioisis.
I couldn’t tell what treatments were used for which couple. Dr. Trumbull’s discussion regarding infertility patients seeing a general physician for the simple stuff but to find a Reproductive Endocrinologist when too much time passes or the issues are growing in their complexity. This is actually a statement that needed to be stated long before now so hats off to Dr. Trumbull. Infertility, especially the issues as presented by TFC, are well beyond anyone’s care besides a Reproductive Endocrinologist.
The issues of cost of infertility care will probably come up again in a future TFC program. It is a difficult issue but few areas of medicine require such a tremendous amount of physician and nursing training, continuous equipment upgrades and an extraordinary amount of time committed to our patients. Hats off to Gundersen Lutheran if they are truly able to make it more affordable in my home state of Wisconsin. I truly wish I could give it away free.
Summary:
Well that is it for now. It was wonderful to be part of The Fertility Chase. Even though my show has aired, my commitment is to continue to watch each program and report back to my readers my thoughts and comments. If you agree or disagree with whatever I say, please do not be shy and leave a comment or two. In the mean time, be fertile.
The Fertility Chase, Episode 2, WE TV, 5-8-2010
I liked today’s show a great deal. There was an abundance of information offered at a dizzying pace. Sorry, in advance, for the long post, but there was much to cover.
Single Embryo Transfer:
The University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics discussed the concept of what is commonly called “elective single embryo transfer” or eSET. Bradly J. Van Voorhis, M.D., Director of the IVF program, was one of the physicians featured. The idea discussed was to transfer only one healthy embryo at a time significantly reducing the risk for multiple pregnancies. He published on this topic in 2007. In today's story, they claimed a 68% delivery rate with a single embryo transfer procedure. According to their previously published data, this probably included egg donation cycles where eggs are removed from very young women and then provided to women who need them.
There is no question that it is ideal to perform an eSET but there are two issues I need to bring up. In many IVF programs, ideal patients are the exception, so eSET may really only be practical for a minority of the patients. Second, other studies have shown a reduction in take-home rates with eSET compared to two embryos, so many patients still request two embryos, even after being warned of the many risks of a multiple pregnancy. It is rare that I am able to convince a patient to electively transfer a single embryo, especially if IVF is not covered by insurance. Americans love a two-for-one sale, even when told of the risks a multiple pregnancy involves.
Cancer and Reproduction:
The second story came from the University of Colorado. This involved the heart-wrenching story of Meghan and Barton. Meghan was diagnosed with some sort of cancer (never described), underwent surgery and radiation, had a recurrence two years later and then received additional surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. I was so very impressed with both of them, especially Barton who so lovingly supported her throughout the process. There was a great picture of the two of them bald probably after the chemotherapy. What a life partner!
After several attempts, a total of four embryos were frozen (cryopreserved). Meghan found an Oncologist who suggested transferring these embryos before the cancer came back, which seemed like an inevitability. I was impressed by Dr. William Schlaff’s honesty explaining the chances that these four cryopreserved embryos would result in a live birth were slim because of her past cancer treatments. I have heard Dr. Schlaff speak before and have always been impressed by his honesty and integrity.
Amazingly, Meghan and Barton became pregnant with the thawed embryos and we were able to see an ultrasound image of an early pregnancy. This case also brings up a very sensitive and difficult side of cancer and reproduction. For patients who have cancer and recurrence, it is really uncertain if they will remain disease free. Many of these patients want to experience life, which often means reproducing. For some, this means having children to fulfill their lives even understanding that some will not survive to raise the child. In addition, by having a child, a part of the cancer patient, a legacy of sorts is left with the surviving partner. I don’t know what cancer Meghan has or her prognosis but it would seem that she might have more trouble ahead. I think they are amazingly brave. She deserves to experience parenthood, which robs so many other cancer patients. Barton is a rare life partner and I truly wish them only the very best.
Dual Training of the Reproductive Endocrinologist:
The University of Colorado facility is unusual in that the Reproductive Endocrinologist are trained to evaluate male infertility. Those types of physicians are rare and are great to have around since one physician is then truly able to care for the couple as a whole rather than trying to get two separate physicians to communicate and agree on a treatment plan. I was fortunate to have been similarly trained and I estimate that at least 25% of my new infertility patients are male.
Egg Freezing (Oocyte Cryopreservation):
Continuing under the theme of cancer, Charles Coddington, III, M.D., Director of the Reproductive Endocrinology Division at the Mayo Clinic, brought up the story of Sarah. Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy, such a difficult decision for such a young woman. In her case, she eventually underwent an egg freezing procedure (oocyte cryopreservation). It is uncertain how many eggs were actually frozen. I thought this piece was well done showing what is possible with today’s technology. Tina was also featured in the segment electively freezing her eggs so she could have a “reproductive insurance policy”.
Trying to Not Create Excess Embryos:
The story of Ceresa and Jonathan was next wherein they tried to only fertilize enough eggs to transfer embryos and then freeze the excess eggs but not have any excess embryos frozen. From what I could tell, two IVF cycles were needed to freeze a total of five eggs. The two fresh embryo transfers resulted in one failure and one miscarriage. For the third procedure, the five eggs were thawed four survived, three fertilized and were transferred resulting in a twin pregnancy.
My personal experience with trying to not create cryopreserved excess embryos has almost always resulted in failure. Trying to get as many healthy embryos as possible, transferring the best and freezing the remaining still provides the best chance for success. Playing the game of fertilizing only a few eggs and freezing the rest does not improve success rates but, in all likelihood, reduces them. It also increased the costs of the cycles. Excess cryopreserved and thawed embryos can be transferred in the couple later or donated to needy patients, so I would almost always suggest fertilizing all the eggs, transfer fresh and free the excess embryos rather than freezing only a few eggs and hoping for the best.
The only issue I had with this entire topic was that it was never made clear that oocyte cryopreservation was experimental requiring a true study with a review board’s oversight. We here at SRMS do have an ongoing oocyte cryopreservation study. We had to go before the hospital Institutional Review Committee (IRC) to give us permission to move forward with the study. I know how careful the IRC is and they would have required to review this segment of The Fertility Chase should this have been my topic. I couldn’t tell if the Mayo Clinic had checked with their IRC before airing their segment but the fact that it was never mentioned that egg freezing was experimental makes me think the committee was never approached.
Please do not misunderstand my writings. I feel this is a very important area of reproductive medicine with the potential to liberate women much as the birth control pill did years many years ago. The reality, however, is that we need to emphasize that oocyte cryopreservation is really experimental and not over promise what we cannot consistently deliver.
Outsourcing Surrogacy:
Next came the couple Karen and Jean. Jean clearly had some difficult luck in that insemination procedures and egg donation cycles didn’t succeed wherein she was then diagnosed with breast cancer. In comes Proactive Family Solutions, which outsources surrogacy to Mumbai, India. From the best that I could tell, Jean’s sperm was combined with an egg donor (American?) and some of the embryos created were placed into an Indian surrogate.
There is no question that surrogacy can be expensive. I couldn’t find any information as to the overall costs Proactive Family Solutions charged but it is undoubtedly less than some locations here in the states. I suspect the option of embryo donation may very well compete in price with Proactive Family Solutions. I would really like to see a head-to-head comparison of the costs to see where the costs here in the states make surrogacy out of reach wherein we should do whatever possible to bring this process back to the states.
Next Week:
Lastly, I felt honored that our piece on embryo donation was the teaser for the next show. Please be sure to tune in next week. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!
Check us out tonight on NBC-2!
Tune into NBC-2 tonight at 5 p.m.: Reporter Marisa Brahney will share the story of “The Fertility Chase,” a new cable tv series airing May 15 on WE (Women’s Entertainment) television, featuring me and two local patients. The story chronicles their experience with embryo adoption and surrogacy – a true testament to the miracle of modern medicine, friendship and the pursuit of motherhood. For more information, visit www.dreamababy.com.
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