CU Study Proves Method of Increasing Rate of Healthy Births Through IVF Using Donor Eggs

DENVER, October 14, 2019 (Newswire.com) - In the largest national study of its kind, University of Colorado Advanced Reproductive Medicine researchers have evaluated whether preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) has any impact on birth outcomes for women using in vitro fertilization (IVF) with donor eggs, discovering an 8% increase in the chances of having a healthy baby.

The study contradicts earlier evidence that PGT is associated with lower odds of live birth with IVF with donor eggs. PGT can identify genetic defects in embryos created by IVF that are a major cause of pregnancy failure as well as birth defects for a subsequent child. Only genetically normal embryos are transplanted in the mother’s womb for pregnancy.

“This is the first time we have shown that PGT is beneficial, even for women undergoing IVF who already have the best prognosis for a healthy baby,” said CU Advanced Reproductive Medicine’s researcher Dr. Alex Polotsky. “We focused on IVF cycles that resulted in a healthy baby, not just a positive pregnancy test, as a positive pregnancy test can end in miscarriage.”

As more and more women are waiting to become pregnant, their quality of eggs decreases naturally with their aging. By using donor eggs from younger women, these individuals can select eggs of higher quality to be fertilized through IVF with their partner’s or a donor’s sperm.

With the addition of PGT, fertility specialists can select a single embryo with normal parameters, rather than unknowingly transfer abnormal embryos that may fail to implant or result in a healthy child. Use of PGT also helps fertility specialists achieve the goal of assisted reproductive technology: the birth of a single healthy child by implanting just one embryo.

Through CU Advanced Reproductive Medicine’s research of more than 25,000 IVF cycles, PGT was associated with an increase of the probability of live birth by 8%, term birth by 7% and the probability of a single healthy baby birth by 8%. This data was collected from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Database-Clinic Outcomes Reporting System, a national IVF database. Variables such as stage of embryo development and single embryo transfer were controlled for in this research.

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About University of Colorado Advanced Reproductive Medicine

University of Colorado Advanced Reproductive Medicine specializes in the evaluation and treatment of infertility and reproductive disorders. The clinic is located at 3055 Roslyn St., Room 230, Denver, Colorado, with surgery and lab facilities at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. A Colorado Springs office is located at 4125 Briargate Parkway, #350. For more information, see arm.coloradowomenshealth.com or call 720-848-1690.

Source: Vanguard Communications