Genetic embryo screening found to be a costly mistake for many women

Jul 4 2007

According to a new study older women whose embryos were screened for defects before being implanted in the womb lessened their chance of a successful pregnancy.

The results of the study carried out by researchers at the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the University of Amsterdam suggests that pregnancy and live birth rates are much lower in women whose embryos are genetically screened for defects before being implanted in the womb.

The researchers say that genetic screening should not always be conducted as a part of fertility treatment for women over the age of 35.

Dr. Sebastiaan Mastenbroek says based on their findings pre-genetic screening should not be done before regular in-vitro fertilization.

The genetic screening process is a costly business and involves taking a single cell from the embryo and analyzing it for any defects.

Many doctors feel that fertility clinics offer the procedure as a way to make money, and are not always acting in the best interest of the woman.

For the study, the Dutch researchers examined 408 women between age 35 and 41 years who were undergoing three cycles of in-vitro fertilization.

The team tested the embryos of half of the women and found that those who had been screened had a substantially lower chance of a pregnancy.

After 12 weeks, only 25% of women undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) whose embryos had been screened were pregnant, against 37% in the control group.

Eventual live birth rates were also lower, at 24% versus 35%.

They also found than more than 60% of the embryos that were genetically screened had some sort of defect.

Mastenbroek suggests the process hampers the potential of an embryo to successfully implant.

The researchers recommend that pre-implantation should no longer be performed routinely in older women undergoing IVF therapy.

Fertility experts say the findings are a wake-up call and vulnerable patients should no longer be exploited financially.

Mastenbroek and colleagues presented their work at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Lyon, France.

The research is published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.