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Test-tube boys may inherit infertility problems

By Lucy Halfhead on Monday 8 February 2010

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Marie Claire news: Human embryos in test tubes

Boys conceived using an assisted reproduction technique where a single sperm is injected directly into the egg, instead of many sperm being mixed together with an egg, may inherit fertility problems, researchers have found.

There are now an estimated 1 million children across Europe born through IVF treatment. Almost one in 50 British babies is conceived artificially and nearly half the couples having treatment go through a procedure known as ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection).

The method has only been in widespread use since the early 1990s so the children conceived this way are not yet old enough to have their own offspring. Researchers have suggested that because the boys conceived using ICSI are more likely to have short ring fingers in relation to their index fingers when compared with naturally conceived children, this probably indicates they have inherited fertility problems from their fathers.

Lead author Dr Alastair Sutclife, a paediatrician at the Institute of Child Health, said ICSI should only be used where absolutely necessary. He said: ‘We don't yet know the implication of the findings because the children are very young, but we need to inform people [about the possible risks of the ICSI procedure].'

Finger length is thought to be determined by exposure to testosterone in the womb and has also been linked with depression and aggression in offspring.

IVF Fast Facts
Some 37,000 patients undergo IVF treatment in Britain each year

 About 14,000, or 1.8%, of babies each year are born through IVF 

About 14% of couples have difficulty conceiving  Less than a third (32%) of IVF cycles in women under 35 are successful 

Average cost of an IVF cycle: £5,000

 Source: Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, NHS

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Monday 8 February 2010

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My daughter has had ICSI treatment twice,the first time she had a baby girl.At the moment she is 12 weeks,so she find out sometime in August what the second baby is.Without ICSI she would not have had her daughter,or the the baby she is now expecting.
Comment by Maggie Bedford on February 08 17:34