Amidst ongoing efforts in China to bypass the “one-child only” law, private fertility clinics have started to push “multiple-baby pills” under the guise of general infertility treatment campaigns.

As China’s one-child policy remains unchanged, it is not yet clear whether or not fertility care will reach popularity levels like those in the United States and elsewhere; however, it is becoming more common for clinics in the country to announce how fertility drugs can increase the chance of multiple births.

While it is understandable for women and couples to desire more than one child, especially if they want to add to their current family or provide a sibling, the current fertility campaigns taking place are in danger of neglecting to provide important information about the potential side effects of fertility drugs and multiple births (ie. overmedication, polycystic ovarian syndrome, low birth weights).  Current trends among fertility care specialists is the US consistently suggest a shift towards more physiologically sound and natural treatments.  Minimally evasive protocols, such as those at New Hope Fertility Center, avoid the overuse of fertility drugs that can lead to high risk multiple births that put stress on both mother and child.

According to the recent report in the Wall Street Journal, family planning laws were enacted in 1980 as a way to control the population that grew under Chairman Mao.  Today, however, concerns are growing around the fact that the now shrinking (and aging) population may significantly affect the country’s economic and social growth.  Officials in Guangdong, China’s most populated province, recently requested China’s central government to waive the one-child rule under certain circumstances, including if the parents in question grew up as only children.  The same province is home to leading private hospital’s in China who are participating in the advertisement of multiple-baby pills, like Guangzhou Women’s Hospital, which currently is running an ad that states the pill “helps women address infertility” and adds “you may get twins” (source: WSJ).

While concrete statistics are not yet available regarding multiple births and the fertility campaigns, there is no question that accessibility and awareness surrounding the availability of fertility care treatments in the country is rising.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on the development of fertility care in China and news regarding the country’s one-child policy.

Wall Street Journal’s “Saturday Essay” this weekend featured a detailed account of one woman’s journey through conventional in vitro fertilization and the emotional and physical costs that often accompany this procedure.

“My Fertility Crisis” portrays an interesting side to the fertility care sector, showing the obstacles and tough personal choices that come into play when choosing one’s fertility treatment protocol.  At New Hope Fertility Center, our emphasis has always been on customized fertility care, with the everlasting belief that pregnancy can be achieved through minimal stimulation techniques like Natural Cycle and Mini-IVF.™  Both methods are more physiologically supportive experiences that require less medication and therefore less disturbance to the body, reducing the stress associated with overmedication and high cost treatments.  Our doctors consistently aim to treat each patient based on what is most healthy and cost effective for them, and continue to make tremendous strides in otherwise difficult cases.

The WSJ profiles Holly Finn, a single woman in her early 40s, and represents the growing number of women attempting to get pregnant through assisted reproduction techniques after choosing to wait to have a child.  As Finn points out, it wasn’t necessarily her career that delayed her decision to have a family, rather, a combination of biological issues and relationship choices (Finn was diagnosed with endometriosis and wittingly states she “gave too much time to the wrong men”).

Whatever the case, Finn gives a voice to those women who struggle to get pregnant in the later stages of life, even after seeking multiple IVF treatments and freezing eggs only to end up with canceled cycles and failed embryo transfers.

Finn goes on to highlight the everlasting stigma behind being infertile and trying to get pregnant through assisted reproduction; however, her narrative brings up another ongoing issue in the fertility field: when to stop.

For the doctor and the patient they are trying to help, the decision to stop IVF treatment and turn to other options, like adoption, an egg donor, or more minimally evasive techniques can be difficult as various factors come into play.  Many women like Finn feel the strong desire to have their own biological child.  On the other hand, fertility doctors are faced with scientific data concerning cumulative birth rates that would suggest turning elsewhere as the patient’s age increases and failed IVF attempts increase.  Along with the complications women face as they get older (including age and health of eggs), come complications associated with excessive hormone regimens (ie. polycystic ovarian syndrome) and the subsequent costs involved in such treatments.  For many, including Finn, the cost and intense medication schedule places additional strain on those already struggling with the inability to conceive.

New Hope Fertility Center understands the risks and strain of costly conventional IVF treatments, which is why we encourage our Natural Cycle and Mini-IVF™ protocols.

You can read more on our treatment options here.

A recent study published in the Science Transitional Medicine journal has pinpointed a major contributor to male infertility.

According to the study led by the University of California at Davis, “men can carry a defective gene” for a specific protein, protein DEFB126, which assists sperm in reaching the egg by giving it the ability to travel through cervical mucus.  When men carry this defective gene, it can greatly affect their fertility, hindering the sperm’s ability to travel through the mucus.

Typically, sperm tests are conducted to examine a male’s fertility and look for the quality and quantity of sperm to determine any potential issues.  With this particular study, researchers were able to find the missing link in those cases where male infertility was virtually unexplainable and sperm was found to be healthy and abundant.  When scientists added the missing protein to sperm that otherwise looked healthy, it resulted in the sperm being able to once again act normal and travel through cervical mucus to the egg.

The findings, which included researchers from Anhui Medical University in China, the University of Leicester in England, the University of Illinois in Chicago, and the Simon Fraser University in Canada, took samples from males in the US, UK, China, Japan and Africa, and discovered roughly 50 percent of men carry one defective copy of the gene and 25 percent carry two defective copies.

The research team behind this study plan to continue their examination of the gene within the US and hope to reveal its ongoing role in unexplained infertility among men.  You can read more here.

According to a recent New York Times report, Israel maintains its status as the capital of in vitro fertilization due to a unique treatment policy, which provides free and unlimited IVF procedures for women up to 45.

In the United States, IVF numbers tend to remain low, presumably due to the high costs associated with the procedure.  Israel, on the other hand, has prioritized IVF treatment as one of their main public health expenditures in order to promote and support the institution of family, and as current critics would argue, “counterbalance the the high fertility rates of families in Palestinian territories” (source: Huffington Post). Israel’s policy has also inspired an ethical debate for those who believe the government’s policy places pressure on women to have children as the accessibility of IVF treatment is promoted, with others who believe the approach turns the process of child-bearing into a commodity.  These ethical questions are prominent within the field of fertility care around the globe, with other such discussions arising from UK’s upcoming IVF lottery.

Whether or not Israel’s IVF policy is a religious and political issue remains to be seen; however, the idea that IVF coverage exists undoubtedly sparks the interest of those individuals who would otherwise seek IVF treatment if coverage and cost were not such an issue.

At New Hope Fertility Center, we strive to make IVF more accessible with our low medication protocols, which lower overall treatment costs and decrease discomfort.  You can read more about our Natural cycle and Mini-IVF™ treatments here.

Despite the uproar among the fertility field concerning To Hatch’s IVF lottery, the organization known most recently for its IVF treatment ticket raffle has plans to expand its offer to Australia.

Representatives from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and CORE (Comment on Reproductive Ethics) have already made statements dismissing the lottery as unacceptable and demeaning; however, To Hatch founder Camille Strachan has held tight to her belief and hope that “the To Hatch Lottery can ease the burden on the NHS and reduce the stress slightly on some of those who are struggling.”  She has added that she would launch similar opportunities for cancer patients in need of expensive drug treatments, and has already been considering expanding the IVF lottery to members in Australia, “Bringing this to Australia this year is at the forefront of my mind because I do get a lot of members from Australia and infertility is just as big a problem in Australia as it is in the UK” (source: Herald Sun).

Chief executive of Australia’s VARTA (Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority) anticipates the lottery, if brought to Australia, will stir some debates in the area of reproductive ethics and has expressed concern about what types of reactions and situations will develop if the treatment from the IVF lottery does not take, “A marketing exercise like this could backfire because it’s no guarantee that the winner of such a lottery would be suitable for IVF treatment” (source: Herald Sun).

To Hatch’s IVF Lottery is set to open July 30th and we’ll continue to update on the debate as the story develops.