A couple who wanted a girl are suing an IVF clinic after the woman gave birth to a boy with haemophilia.
Fiona and Paul Amos asked Melbourne IVF to ensure they only had a female child so Mrs Amos would not pass on the genetic blood condition.
She gave birth to son Jesse, who has haemophilia, on June 1, 2005.
The genetic disorder will impair the ability of Jesse's blood to clot.
In a statement of claim lodged with the Victorian Supreme Court, the couple from St Arnaud, in northern Victoria, are suing Melbourne IVF and its obstetrician and gynecologist Dr David Wilkinson.
They also are suing Ballarat Health Services and Bendigo Radiology.
Mrs Amos underwent treatment at Melbourne IVF between November 2003 and late January 2004.
In the statement of claim, the couple argue the clinic breached its duty of care by failing to advise that pre-implantation genetic diagnosis was not 100 per cent accurate.
They also allege Melbourne IVF failed to advise them that the analysis could lead to the wrong gender of an embryo being diagnosed.
It is further alleged the IVF centre inaccurately reported the embryo contained two chromosomes and failed to report that the embryo contained only one X chromosome.
The couple allege Ballarat Health Services failed to have an ultrasound performed that would have confirmed the child was not female.
It also is alleged Bendigo Radiology failed to confirm the child was male.
They are suing for psychiatric injury including depression, shock and anxiety.
In a statement of defence, Melbourne IVF said the couple failed to refrain from having unprotected sex during their IVF treatment.
It also alleged the couple failed to have a repeat ultrasound after one was carried out in January, 2005, and did not have an amniocentesis, a procedure which could have determined genetic abnormalities.
The matter will return to a later date.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
A house divided: Estranged couple's home cut in half
A Cambodian couple who separated after 40 years of marriage may have taken things too literally when it came to splitting their assets:
A couple who separated after 40 years of marriage split their house in two -- literally.
The husband cut the house in two.
"It is the strangest thing I've ever seen," said May Titthara, who wrote about the case for The Phnom Penh Post, an English-language newspaper in the Cambodian capital. "People there never saw this happen in a divorce. It is very interesting for them."
The husband and wife had been living together in the house in a village in the Prey Veng province of southern Cambodia, roughly 50 miles (80 km) from the capital.
The couple would not talk to the newspaper, but the village chief told May Titthara that the husband was angry because his wife wouldn't tend to him when he was ill.
Last week, the husband and his friends moved his belongings to one side of the house -- and sawed and chiseled it off, said the reporter, who interviewed the village chief and neighbors.
The couple also divided their property into four sections: for themselves and their two children.
Because the couple side-stepped the provincial courts when they parted ways, their unusual resolution could pose a problem later, said Prak Phin, a lawyer for Legal Support for Child and Women in the province.
"This was a not a legal divorce. It never went to the court," he said. "If they have disagreements in the future, they will not have a legal (recourse)."
The man moved his part of the house to his parent's property, May Titthara said. He lives with his parents, while the wife continues to reside in her precariously perched, upright half.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Pragmatism
A husband and wife were having a fine dining experience at their exclusive country club when this stunning young woman
comes over to their table, gives the husband a big kiss, says she'll see him later and walks away.
His wife glares at him and says, "Who was that?!"
"Oh," replies the husband, "she's my mistress."
"Well that's the last straw," says the wife. "I've had enough, I want a divorce. I am going to hire the most aggressive, meanest divorce lawyer I can find and make your life miserable."
"I can understand that," replies her husband, "but remember, if we get a divorce it will mean no more wintering in Key West, or the Caribbean, no more summers in Tuscany, no more Cadillac STS in the garage, and no more country club, and we'll have to sell the 26-room house and move to two smaller homes, but the decision is yours."
Just then, a mutual friend enters the restaurant with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.
"Who's that with Jim?" asks the wife.
"That's his mistress," says her husband.
She replies, "Ours is prettier."
comes over to their table, gives the husband a big kiss, says she'll see him later and walks away.
His wife glares at him and says, "Who was that?!"
"Oh," replies the husband, "she's my mistress."
"Well that's the last straw," says the wife. "I've had enough, I want a divorce. I am going to hire the most aggressive, meanest divorce lawyer I can find and make your life miserable."
"I can understand that," replies her husband, "but remember, if we get a divorce it will mean no more wintering in Key West, or the Caribbean, no more summers in Tuscany, no more Cadillac STS in the garage, and no more country club, and we'll have to sell the 26-room house and move to two smaller homes, but the decision is yours."
Just then, a mutual friend enters the restaurant with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.
"Who's that with Jim?" asks the wife.
"That's his mistress," says her husband.
She replies, "Ours is prettier."
Friday, October 31, 2008
Freezing improves DNA integrity
Gamete cryopreservation could help improve the fertility of men whose spermatozoa show a high level of prefreeze DNA fragmentation, study findings indicate.
Laura Thomson (Fertility First, Hurstville, Australia) and co-authors note potential cryoinjury of sperm from subfertile men is an issue of primary concern “considering that subfertile men form a very large proportion of the men requiring semen cryopreservation.”
The findings were observed during a study comparing different cryoprotectants used to store spermatozoa for fertility treatment. The study involved 320 men who presented for fertility investigations and provided semen samples.
Post-thaw sperm DNA integrity was unaffected by the type of cryoprotectant used during freezing, but showed a significant, negative correlation with the prefreeze level of DNA fragmentation. Among men with prefreeze sperm DNA fragmentation levels within the normal range, 89 percent showed an increase in fragmentation post-thaw. Conversely, 64 percent of those with very high levels of prefreeze fragmentation showed a decrease in fragmentation post-thaw.
The authors suggest that the result “gives rise to a possible novel method of reducing fragmentation in sperm used for assisted reproductive technology treatment cycles, in some cases without the need for invasive and expensive testicular sperm retrievals.”
Laura Thomson (Fertility First, Hurstville, Australia) and co-authors note potential cryoinjury of sperm from subfertile men is an issue of primary concern “considering that subfertile men form a very large proportion of the men requiring semen cryopreservation.”
The findings were observed during a study comparing different cryoprotectants used to store spermatozoa for fertility treatment. The study involved 320 men who presented for fertility investigations and provided semen samples.
Post-thaw sperm DNA integrity was unaffected by the type of cryoprotectant used during freezing, but showed a significant, negative correlation with the prefreeze level of DNA fragmentation. Among men with prefreeze sperm DNA fragmentation levels within the normal range, 89 percent showed an increase in fragmentation post-thaw. Conversely, 64 percent of those with very high levels of prefreeze fragmentation showed a decrease in fragmentation post-thaw.
The authors suggest that the result “gives rise to a possible novel method of reducing fragmentation in sperm used for assisted reproductive technology treatment cycles, in some cases without the need for invasive and expensive testicular sperm retrievals.”
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Cell phone risk to sperm supported
An in vitro comparison study has strengthened concerns that electromagnetic radiation from cell phones impairs male fertility.
Ashok Agarwal (Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA) and colleagues set out to validate the implications of recent epidemiologic studies, which reported reductions in sperm motility, morphology, and viability associated with cell phone exposure.
They studied neat semen samples from 23 normal healthy donors and nine infertility patients. They divided the samples into two aliquots and exposed one of each sample to radiation from cell phones in talk mode, leaving the second aliquot unexposed to serve as controls.
Analysis revealed significantly lower sperm motility and sperm viability in aliquots of exposed compared with unexposed sperm (49 vs 52 percent and 52 vs 59 percent, respectively).
Levels of reactive oxygen species were also significantly higher in samples of exposed compared with unexposed sperm (0.11 vs 0.06 x106 cpm/20 million sperm), Agarwal et al report.
Total antioxidant capacity and levels of DNA damage did not differ significantly between the two groups.
“We speculate that keeping the cell phone in a trouser pocket in talk mode may negatively affect spermatozoa and impair male fertility,” the researchers conclude.
Source: Fertility and Sterility 2008; Advance online publication
Ashok Agarwal (Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA) and colleagues set out to validate the implications of recent epidemiologic studies, which reported reductions in sperm motility, morphology, and viability associated with cell phone exposure.
They studied neat semen samples from 23 normal healthy donors and nine infertility patients. They divided the samples into two aliquots and exposed one of each sample to radiation from cell phones in talk mode, leaving the second aliquot unexposed to serve as controls.
Analysis revealed significantly lower sperm motility and sperm viability in aliquots of exposed compared with unexposed sperm (49 vs 52 percent and 52 vs 59 percent, respectively).
Levels of reactive oxygen species were also significantly higher in samples of exposed compared with unexposed sperm (0.11 vs 0.06 x106 cpm/20 million sperm), Agarwal et al report.
Total antioxidant capacity and levels of DNA damage did not differ significantly between the two groups.
“We speculate that keeping the cell phone in a trouser pocket in talk mode may negatively affect spermatozoa and impair male fertility,” the researchers conclude.
Source: Fertility and Sterility 2008; Advance online publication
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Gender selection: From diet to chromosomes
A link between what women eat before conception and the sex of their baby has been found in research from the Universities of Exeter and Oxford in the UK.
The results of their study show a clear association between a high energy intake before conception and the birth of sons. As well as consuming more calories, women who had sons were more likely to have eaten a higher quantity and wider range of nutrients, such as potassium, calcium, and vitamins C, E, and B12 than women who had girls. There was also a strong correlation between women who ate breakfast cereals and the birth of male children.
The study's lead author, Dr Fiona Mathews from the University of Exeter, said: "Potentially, males of most species can father more offspring than females, but this can be strongly influenced by the size or social status of the male, with poor quality males failing to breed at all. Females, on the other hand, reproduce more consistently. If a mother has plentiful resources then it can make sense to invest in producing a son because he is likely to produce more grandchildren than would a daughter. However, in leaner times having a daughter is a safer bet."
The study was performed in 740 nulliparous women with normal singleton pregnancies who kept a prospective food diary of their diet in early pregnancy and gave a retrospective report of their usual diet in the year prior to conception. Results showed that 56 percent of women in the highest third of preconceptional energy intake bore boys, compared with 45 percent of those in the lowest third. However, intakes during pregnancy were not associated with any gender differences, suggesting, say the authors, that the fetus does not manipulate maternal diet.
The results, the authors add, are relevant for two reasons: first, that changes in dietary habits (skipping breakfast, for example) may explain the falling proportion of male births in industrialized countries; and second, as more evidence in the debate about gender selection in fertility treatment. The latter represents a continuing ethical issue for those involved in assisted reproduction.
Gender selection in IVF has been rarely (and controversially) described for the purposes of "family balancing" and more routinely as a medical indication for couples at risk for passing on a sex-linked single gene defect to their offspring. Indeed, the first reported pregnancies following pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), from the Hammersmith Hospital in London in 1990, were in couples at risk of transmitting recessive X chromosome-linked diseases to their children. That risk was removed by the chromosomal detection of gender in each embryo (then done by polymerase chain reaction) and the transfer of only "female" embryos.
The latest report from the PGD Consortium of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology), the only group today collecting data on PGD, shows that, during the 6 years prior to the latest analysis (for 2004, with pregnancies into 2005), there were a total of 703 cycles of sexing for X-linked disease performed among the reporting centers. In 2004 alone, 113 cycles were reported, nearly all using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to identify gender.
The Consortium's 2004 analysis showed that, of the embryos successfully biopsied, 93 percent (564/608) gave a diagnostic result, of which only 32 percent (183/564) were transferable (female); only 67 percent of the started cycles (76/113) reached embryo transfer. A positive heartbeat was found in 20 cycles (18 percent), giving an implantation rate of 17 percent (20/120), rates similar to those found in previous data collections.
The same dataset also shows that, in 2004, 79 cycles of PGD were preformed for "social sexing," most of which were in couples requesting a male embryo. However, social sex selection remains controversial and the debate about its application continues. Sex selection for non-medical reasons is still prohibited in India, Europe and Australia and patients having any type of PGD are not permitted to choose embryos on the basis of gender.
The results of their study show a clear association between a high energy intake before conception and the birth of sons. As well as consuming more calories, women who had sons were more likely to have eaten a higher quantity and wider range of nutrients, such as potassium, calcium, and vitamins C, E, and B12 than women who had girls. There was also a strong correlation between women who ate breakfast cereals and the birth of male children.
The study's lead author, Dr Fiona Mathews from the University of Exeter, said: "Potentially, males of most species can father more offspring than females, but this can be strongly influenced by the size or social status of the male, with poor quality males failing to breed at all. Females, on the other hand, reproduce more consistently. If a mother has plentiful resources then it can make sense to invest in producing a son because he is likely to produce more grandchildren than would a daughter. However, in leaner times having a daughter is a safer bet."
The study was performed in 740 nulliparous women with normal singleton pregnancies who kept a prospective food diary of their diet in early pregnancy and gave a retrospective report of their usual diet in the year prior to conception. Results showed that 56 percent of women in the highest third of preconceptional energy intake bore boys, compared with 45 percent of those in the lowest third. However, intakes during pregnancy were not associated with any gender differences, suggesting, say the authors, that the fetus does not manipulate maternal diet.
The results, the authors add, are relevant for two reasons: first, that changes in dietary habits (skipping breakfast, for example) may explain the falling proportion of male births in industrialized countries; and second, as more evidence in the debate about gender selection in fertility treatment. The latter represents a continuing ethical issue for those involved in assisted reproduction.
Gender selection in IVF has been rarely (and controversially) described for the purposes of "family balancing" and more routinely as a medical indication for couples at risk for passing on a sex-linked single gene defect to their offspring. Indeed, the first reported pregnancies following pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), from the Hammersmith Hospital in London in 1990, were in couples at risk of transmitting recessive X chromosome-linked diseases to their children. That risk was removed by the chromosomal detection of gender in each embryo (then done by polymerase chain reaction) and the transfer of only "female" embryos.
The latest report from the PGD Consortium of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology), the only group today collecting data on PGD, shows that, during the 6 years prior to the latest analysis (for 2004, with pregnancies into 2005), there were a total of 703 cycles of sexing for X-linked disease performed among the reporting centers. In 2004 alone, 113 cycles were reported, nearly all using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to identify gender.
The Consortium's 2004 analysis showed that, of the embryos successfully biopsied, 93 percent (564/608) gave a diagnostic result, of which only 32 percent (183/564) were transferable (female); only 67 percent of the started cycles (76/113) reached embryo transfer. A positive heartbeat was found in 20 cycles (18 percent), giving an implantation rate of 17 percent (20/120), rates similar to those found in previous data collections.
The same dataset also shows that, in 2004, 79 cycles of PGD were preformed for "social sexing," most of which were in couples requesting a male embryo. However, social sex selection remains controversial and the debate about its application continues. Sex selection for non-medical reasons is still prohibited in India, Europe and Australia and patients having any type of PGD are not permitted to choose embryos on the basis of gender.
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