By

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 8:31 AM

Updated Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 8:31 AM

Emily Herx

Photo by Google Images

A Catholic diocese in Indiana is denying that it discriminated against a school teacher who claims she was fired for using in vitro fertilization to try to get pregnant.

In court documents filed Monday, the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend asked a federal court to throw out Emily Herx’s lawsuit which claims she was discriminated against because of her IVF treatment, the News-Sentinel reports.

Herx’s claim against the Diocese, as a religious employer, are barred, in whole or in partunder the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States due to the religious content, purpose and meaning of her employment with the Diocese, the papers said.

The mother claims the diocese discriminated against her by terminating her contract in April 2011 while she was undergoing in vitro fertilization. Herx taught at the school from 2003 through 2007 and again from 2008 until spring 2011. The school claims she was not fired but that her contract simply was not renewed.

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Catholic diocese denies illegal action in firing teacher who received IVF – VIDEO

Gynaecologists recommend end to free IVF for women over 41

Monday 14 May 2012

The national gynaecologists’ association recommended on Monday that women over the age of 41 pay the cost of IVF fertility treatment themselves.

The NVOG was asked to look at ways of saving 30m a year on fertility services and said this would be one method of reducing costs, the association is quoted as saying.

At the moment, the basic health insurance package pays for three IVF sessions for women up to the age of 45 but the cabinet plans to restrict this to one treatment from next year.

Effective

However, excluding older women would have more effect than restricting treatment, Utrecht professor Bart Fauser told the NRC.

‘We would rather not have to make any savings but we were asked to think about it,’ Fauser said, referring to cabinet plans to slash the 50m fertility treatment budget by more than half.

One course of IVF treatment costs some 3,000. Some 10% of patients are currently over the age of 41.

DutchNews.nl

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Gynaecologists recommend end to free IVF for women over 41

Gabby Logan opens Cambridge IVF

Television presenter Gabby Logan had two treasured reasons to officially open Cambridge IVF today (May 14).

The former gymnast, who had twin boys by IVF treatment, unveiled a plaque at the only comprehensive assisted conception facility in the NHS in the region.

Opened to patients in September, the facility is a new purpose-built assisted conception unit offering high-quality, personalised care based on the very latest science and research.

Mr Raj Mathur, Cambridge IVFs lead clinician, said: “Cambridge IVF is now unrivalled as the only NHS comprehensive assisted conception unit in the region, and its establishment builds on 20 years of experience.

“The wide clinical expertise of our team, matched with our state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, combined with the links with Addenbrookes, Cambridge University and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, means that we can offer the very best care and treatment.”

Dr Mary Archer, chairman of Cambridge University Hospitals hosted the event.

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Gabby Logan opens Cambridge IVF

AROUND 10 to 15 per cent of the population is infertile unable to produce children after one year of having unprotected sexual intercourse but modern technology has ways to help remedy that.

In Jamaica, The Hugh Wynter Fertility Management Unit (HWFMU) at the University Hospital of the West Indies has been using modern medicine for the past five years to treat infertility, doing it so successfully that it has attracted the attention of several desperate, childless couples overseas.

But while so many view what the unit does as miraculous, there are still many in the Christian community here in Jamaica who believe going the artificial route goes against God’s will for them.

Having worked with infertile couples, consultant clinical psychologist Dr Audrey Pottinger told the Jamaica Observer during an interview late last year, that society is still very closed minded about in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

This is a common medical procedure where a man’s sperm is added to a female’s eggs in the laboratory to produce embryos. These embryos are put back into the female’s womb after a few days of being inside an incubator with the hope that it will attach to the uterine wall and grow into a baby.

Poor sperm quality and/or quantity, obstructions between the egg and sperm, ovulation problems, and sperm-egg interaction problems are the common reasons that couples fail to conceive naturally, and IVF helps to solve this. However, the fact that conception is occurring outside the womb in any other manner than by sexual intercourse, is disconcerting to many Jamaicans.

“In the US, that is something that is commonly done, but I think it is going to take a little while before people start doing that here. I think it is still ingrained in our mindset that society would frown on us if we do something like this,” said Dr Pottinger.

“Even right now, the couple’s who utilise IVF, they would come in and they would say they are so conflicted because they are very religious and they believe that if God wanted them to have a child, it would happen naturally, and so they are pulled between the strong yearning for a child, but their religious belief as well,” she pointed out.

Dr Pottinger was a co-author of the study, Gender differences in coping with infertility among couples undergoing counseling for in vitro fertilisation treatment, which was published in the West Indian Medical Journal in 2006. The study looked at the coping skills and psychological distress of 52 men and women who were offered psychological counselling prior to beginning IVF treatment between October 2003 and

May 2004 at the Fertility Management Unit, at the University of the West Indies.

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Against God's will?

Published on May 12, 2012

Ms Chloe Lau, 34, and her husband Darren Potter, 39, with their children (from left) five-year-old Sophia and four-year-old twins Amanda and Laurence. Ms Lau went through two successful cycles of IVF treatment. — ST PHOTO: RAJ NADARAJAN

By Ng Kai Ling

In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) works better for younger women; the older the woman, the harder it is for the treatment to be successful.

Fertility expert Loh Seong Feei, who was speaking at the launch of a new IVF hormone stimulant on Friday, said the success rate of IVF treatments falls significantly for women over 35 years old.

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IVF works best for women below 35

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Popular IVF treatment linked to birth defects

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Eye treatment 'could save NHS £84m'

A Sheffield scientist who has helped change the way IVF treatment is carried out across the country has been named Healthcare Scientist of the Year.

Rachel Cutting, Principal Embryologist at the Assisted Conception Unit at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, was given the award by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley at the Chief Scientific Officers Healthcare Science event last week.

The Healthcare Scientist of the Year award is granted annually by the Department of Health as part of an award scheme that recognises outstanding individual achievement within the health service. The winners are selected annually by the Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Sue Hill OBE.

The award recognises in particular Rachels uncompromising commitment to a project called One at a time, which promotes single embryo transfer during IVF treatment. The award also acknowledged Rachels outstanding leadership, and her dedication to teamwork and promoting better outcomes for patients.

Rachel, who has worked in assisted conception in Sheffield since 1994, said: It was a wonderful surprise to be awarded Healthcare Scientist of the year at the awards. It recognises the work of the One at a time project, which promotes patient safety by reducing multiple pregnancies.

Whilst I received the award, it reflects the hard work done by many dedicated people who I am fortunate to work alongside and I would like to thank my colleagues for all the support they have given me.

The One at a time project has focused on improving patient safety by promoting single embryo transfer for mothers undergoing IVF treatment. The biggest single risk factor for mothers and babies following fertility treatment is multiple births, which lead to higher mortality rates. Approximately one in four treatment pregnancies are a multiple pregnancy compared to one in 80 for women who conceive naturally.

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Sheffield embryologist given prestigious honour by Health Secretary

Results of a new study show that technology from BlueGnome in Cambridge can offer dramatic benefit to IVF success, the UK company has revealed.

The study, published in The Journal of Molecular Cytogenetics by Yang et al (Pacific Reproductive Center,Torrance, USA) has demonstrated that selectively implanting euploid embryos, with a normal number of chromosomes, significantly increases pregnancy rates.

The study blindly randomised 103 IVF cycles. In the treatment group of 55 cycles, 24sure analysis of day 5 biopsies was used to selectively implant a single euploid embryo (as recommended by IVF regulatory bodies such as the HEFA), while in the control group of 48 cycles single embryos were selected using existing morphological scorecard approaches.

The ongoing pregnancy rate, after 20 weeks, per cycle started was 69.1 per cent in the 24sure treatment group vs 41.7 per cent in the control group.

This extremely promising result provides direct evidence that 24sure analysis can deliver a 65 per cent increase in pregnancy rates, even in younger patients with more favourable IVF outcomes. Further randomised studies are needed and are underway.

BlueGnome CEO Nick Haan said: This study provides crucial evidence that 24 chromosome aneuploidy screening, using 24sure, can offer a dramatic benefit to IVF success rates.

While further studies are still needed, this result is incredibly exciting because it indicates for the first time that 24 chromosome screening and single embryo transfer has the potential to become the default standard of care for all IVF cycles worldwide.

www.molecularcytogenetics.org/content/5/1/24/abstract.

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IVF trials boost for BlueGnome

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Selecting IVF Embryos for Normal Numbers of Chromosomes Can Significantly Increase Pregnancy Rates

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After IVF, some couples get pregnant without help

>>> back now at 8:08 with a big announcement from giuliana and bill rancic . they have been through some very open about their dramatic events in their lives, including the dual challenges of infertility and breast cancer . they’re talking exclusively in just a moment. but first, their story. for years she’s been a familiar face to fans who followed her on television as a co-anchor on e! news.

>> they say their biggest secrets for us.

>> reporter: in gracing the red carpets for major hollywood events.

>> how are you?

>> reporter: giuliana rancic ‘s infectious smile captured the attention of another well-known celebrity, season one winner of the apprentice, bill rancic .

>> bill, you’re hired.

>> reporter: the two were married and have chronicled their lives together in the style network reality show ” giuliana & bill.”

>> how you feeling?

>> reporter: on the show the couple shared their struggle to have a family, while undergoing fertility treatments giuliana learned something stunning about her health, something she revealed on “today” last october.

>> i have early stages of breast cancer .

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After IVF, some women get pregnant without help

DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Dublin – Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qxfpd5/india_ivf_treatmen) has announced the addition of the “India IVF Treatment Market Analysis” report to their offering.

India has a large population of 1.22 Billion people and infertility in the country is rising at a rapid rate (about 30 Million couples suffer from infertility). Infertility or the inability to have children refers to a range of disorders some of which affect the male, and some the female, and contribute to childlessness in a couple. There is also something called unexplained infertility, where doctors are unable to provide a medical explanation for the couple’s inability to conceive.

In India, approximately 15% – 20% of married couple’s in their fertile age group, suffer from infertility and it is on the increase because of urbanization, pollution, chemical exposure, stress, competitive work environment, fast-paced lifestyles, late settlement in life, more women opting to work, increased incidence of diabetes, pelvic inflammatory diseases, etc.

Today, arrays of treatment options to treat infertility are readily available in India. These include medications for ovulation induction; endoscopic surgery to correct anatomical problems; and the assisted reproductive technologies, including IUI, IVF, and ICSI (intra cytoplasmic sperm injection).

India has become one of the favored destinations for infertility treatments such as IVF due to several factors including its medical expertise, state-of-the-art technology (which is at par with the best in the world), and a cost-effective health care system.

Key Topics Covered:

1. What is In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Treatment?

2. India In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Market Overview

3. India Total Fertility Rate Profile

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Research and Markets: India IVF Treatment Market Analysis – Infertility in India is Increasing due to Factors such as …

Mother tragically lost a child to meningitis before she was told her fallopian tubes had fused together Doctor told her she had more chance of winning the lottery than conceiving naturally again She lost first IVF twins at six weeks

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 10:28 EST, 1 May 2012 | UPDATED: 10:28 EST, 1 May 2012

A mother who spent 40,000 on IVF over eight years in order to have a son was thrilled to conceive another child a year later, without trying.

Jenifer Heneghan, 35, and husband Kevin, 37, spent their life savings on six rounds of IVF treatment after Jenifer was told she was infertile.

My miracle babies: Jenifer Heneghan who was told she could never fall pregnant naturally with IVF son Tiernon and daughter Nuala who was conceived naturally

The couple were over joyed when she gave birth to son Tiernon in May 2010 and accepted he would never have a sibling because they couldnt afford any more IVF treatment.

But shortly after his first birthday Jenifer realised her period was late and was left stunned when a test confirmed she was pregnant.

She gave birth to her miracle daughter Nuala ten weeks ago.

The former care home manager said: ‘Weve never used contraception because I was told there was more chance of me winning the lottery than falling pregnant.

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Mother spends £40,000 on IVF to have son… only to fall pregnant naturally a year later

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IVF Donation by Sher Fertility Highlights Educational Seminars about Fertility Treatments, Donations Coincide with …