The IVF fertility treatment could raise the risk of women having a baby with Down’s syndrome, state researchers. Doctors are already familiar with the fact that the chance of having a baby with the genetic condition escalates with mother’s age particularly for women over the age of thirty-five.
The researchers believe that drugs used to initiates ovaries for IVF in adult women disturbs the genetic matter of the eggs. They are not aware about the degree of risk but it could also cause many other genetic conditions, not just Down’s syndrome. However, more study is required to corroborate their qualms.
The research team from the London Bridge Fertility, Gynaecology and Genetics Centre looked at thirty-four couples undergoing fertility treatment. All the women undergoing fertility treatment were above the age of thirty-one and had been given drugs to make their ovaries release eggs prepared for their IVF treatment.
While studying the fertilized eggs, researchers found some eggs had genetic errors. These genetic errors could either cause the pregnancy to fail or mean the baby would be born with a genetic disease. A close study of one hundred faulty eggs revealed that many of the errors involved a duplication of coiled genetic material, known as a chromosome.
The error frequently brought about an extra copy of chromosome twenty-one, which causes Down’s syndrome. However, dissimilar from classic Down syndrome, frequently seen in infants of adult women who conceive naturally, the mold of genetic errors leading to Down’s syndrome in the IVF eggs was different and more complex. Therefore researchers believe that it was the fertility treatment that was to blame.
According to lead author Professor Alan Handyside, this could indicate that the stimulation of the ovaries is causing some of these errors. They already know that these fertility drugs can have an analogous effect in laboratory studies. But more study is required to confirm the findings. Their work could help identify which women might be more contented using donor eggs for IVF instead.
This in itself is already a big step forward that will assist couples hoping for a healthy pregnancy and birth to be able to achieve one, explained co-investigator Prof Joep Geraedts from Bonn University in Germany.