New Discovery Raises Hope For Childless Couples

As the number of people with infertility continues to rise globally, scientists have developed a ‘potent’ new fertility treatment said to be cheaper and less invasive than Invitro Vertilisation (IVF). IVF is the long established process of fertilisation by manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish, and then transferring the embryo to the uterus.
It increases the likelihood of a couple being able to have a child.
However, going by the new findings, Australian and Belgian scientists have discovered how to improve a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant, using a less invasive and cheaper alternative.
The new method, which has already undergone pre-clinical testing, uses growth factors to enhance an existing fertility treatment known as in-vitro maturation (IVM).
The results show improved egg quality and a 50 per cent increase in embryos, with minimal use of drugs.
Researchers said the advance has ‘significant implications’ for fertility treatment worldwide.
Infertility is a common problem in Nigeria. It is estimated that one in four couples may have difficulty achieving conception. Standard in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) requires women to take Follicle Stimulating Hormones (FSH) to stimulate egg cell growth before they are removed from the ovary.
In the IVM process, eggs are removed from the ovaries when they are still immature.
They are then matured in the laboratory before being fertilised. The difference between IVM and conventional in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is that the eggs are immature when they are collected. This means the woman does not need to take as many drugs before the eggs can be collected as she might if using conventional IVF, when mature eggs ar. Story By JOHNSON OKPUSA OBASI