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 08 September 2008 12:40 BST

First baby born from frozen lab egg

Monday, 02 Jul 2007 13:39
The newborn baby is said to be doing well
Scientists have successfully overseen the birth of a baby created from an egg matured in the laboratory and then frozen, it has been revealed today.

Dr Hananel Holzer told a fertility conference in Lyon, France, that the egg was matured under laboratory conditions, frozen and then thawed. It was then fertilised and the baby was born in Canada.

Speaking at the 23rd annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) today, Mr Holzer told colleagues that the baby girl is progressing well.

He said that three other women were also pregnant following a trial of 20 patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) or related problems to their ovaries at McGill Reproductive Centre, Montreal, Canada.

"We have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to do this and, so far, we have achieved four successful pregnancies, one of which has resulted in a live birth," Dr Holzer said.

"The other three pregnancies are ongoing. These results are preliminary and the pregnancy rate is probably associated with a learning curve; indeed three of the pregnancies were achieved in the last five patients."

The team of scientists selected 20 women around the age of 30, all of whom were infertile and had polycystic ovaries, for the trial after they agreed to have their eggs frozen as part of their fertility treatment.

Dr Holzer said that although the development is a major one, the process is still in its early stages and more research is needed.

"It has the potential to become one of the main options for fertility preservation, especially for patients who cannot have ovarian stimulation and all patients who do not have enough time to undergo ovarian stimulation," he said.

"However, we have to remember that these are only preliminary results from a small number of patients who were not cancer patients themselves. As for all methods for fertility preservation, they should be looked at as preliminary and experimental. We need to inform the patients about the early stage of these treatments without giving any false hopes."

Commenting on the development, Dr Allan Pacey, a senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield and the honorary secretary of the British Fertility Society, said it could be a "very significant step forward".

"In comparison to men who can easily bank some sperm before cancer treatment, women have very few options and that really is not fair," he said.

"Clearly, there needs to be more work done to make sure that the technique is safe, and that the children born from the eggs are healthy, but if this is done then this technique could become very important indeed."End of story


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