frozen embryos, UK

UK – Frozen embryo pregnancy boost

Source Express

A fertility clinic has become the first in the UK to routinely freeze embryos – to give women more than a 50 percent chance of falling pregnant. Scientists at Cambridge IVF found the technique allowed them to transfer the embryos at the best time for the patient.

It also eliminates some of the side effects of IVF drugs, including weight gain, abdominal pain, vomiting and shortness of breath.

The clinic, which works with Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, achieved a 61.8 per cent success rate for a group of 167 women between the age of 24 and 45 compared with 40.6 per cent when using fresh embryos.

The figure is nearly double the national average of 36 per cent for using fresh embryos, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

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Canada, Frozen Embryo Legal Battle

Why Canada court’s ruling on contested embryo is wrong – but also right

Source BioNews

Over the past couple of weeks, much ink has been spilled over the recent Ontario Superior Court decision, SH v DH (see BioNews 961). It is precedent-setting in Ontario and across Canada, being the first published decision determining who may use frozen embryos upon the dissolution of a marriage.

The Ontario court last month awarded the former couple’s frozen embryo to the wife, DH, who wants to use it to become pregnant. This ruling was reached by regarding the embryo – which is not genetically related to either spouse – as ‘property’. While I agree in principle with the result and would like to see DH use the embryo for reasons set out later, based on my interpretation of the Section 8 (Consent) Regulations to the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, I believe the decision may be incorrect.

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Frozen Embryo Legal Battle

Woman must turn over embryo for estranged husband to destroy: judges

Source NY Post

An appeals court has taken away a Manhattan woman’s frozen embryo — and given it to her estranged husband to destroy.

In April 2017, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Deborah Kaplan granted Bat-El Yishay Finkelstein sole custody of the embryo that a fertility clinic had created with her egg and her husband Yoram Finkelstein’s sperm.

The judge based her decision in part on the fact that the embryo represented the now 53-year-old wife’s “last chance to become a biological parent.”

Finkelstein, a 63-year-old architect, challenged the ruling.

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frozen embryos

How a woman’s ex-boyfriend is stopping her from having a baby.

Source Mama Mia

A New York woman claims her ex-boyfriend is using “time as a weapon” to prevent her from using their shared frozen embryos to become a mother.

Ilissa Watnik and her ex Kevin Heldt are currently locked in a legal battle over use of their embryos at Manhattan Supreme Court.

He says he doesn’t want the “emotional and financial burden of parentage” and that documents he signed giving her use are “vague” and “unenforceable”.

She says he’s just wasting her time in court to “run out” her biological clock.

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cryogenic cold storage, Egg Freezing, Embryo Freezing, Sperm Freezing

Fertility clinic failure worse than thought

Source Francais Express

Wendy and Rick Penniman and their children Beau and Mary KateWendy and Rick Penniman and their children Beau and Mary Kate. Wendy had three embryos frozen after IVF that were stored at the University Hospitals fertility center.

Nearly 1,000 patients of the University Hospitals Fertility Center are being sent letters apologizing once more and acknowledging some of the reasons a storage tank failed. The hospital is now blaming human error for the loss of those frozen eggs and embryos, some of which had been stored for decades.

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Cryobank, cryogenic cold storage, Embryo Freezing, Embryo Storage Failure, Frozen Eggs, frozen embryos, Frozen Sperm, Sperm Freezing

Families Are Heartbroken After Losing Embryos in IVF Clinic’s Freezer Failure: “I Don’t Think You Can Fix This”

Source TimeInc.net

Betty Jacobs first heard about the freezer problem on Thursday, March 8, when she scrolled through her Facebook news feed. That day, a local Ohio paper had published an articleabout temperature changes at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, where Jacobs underwent IVF and had her twins in 2016. Because of these temperature changes — which had occurred the previous Saturday — more than 2,000 frozen eggs and embryos were potentially damaged and unviable.

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cryogenic cold storage, Egg Freezing, Embryo Freezing, Frozen Eggs, intended parents

What Fertility Patients Should Know About Egg Freezing

Source: The New York Times

Dr. Julie Lamb, director of fertility preservation at Pacific NW Fertility in Seattle, has been fielding calls from concerned patients after two unrelated incidents at fertility clinics in San Francisco and Cleveland raised concerns about egg storage.CreditRuth Fremson/The New York Times

The failure of systems used to store frozen eggs and embryos at two fertility clinics has rattled people who count on such clinics to help them realize their hopes of having children. But the breakdowns at clinics in Cleveland and San Francisco, each apparently involving the temperature or level of liquid nitrogen in one storage tank, have damaged at least some eggs and embryos belonging to potentially hundreds of people.

At a time when egg freezing is increasing swiftly — some Silicon Valley companies now tout it as a perk for their employees — the incidents raise questions about what to look for and ask if you are considering taking that step. Here is a basic guide:

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Cancer, Embryo Freezing, Gestational surrogacy, Infertility, Surrogate Mother, UK

Selfless surrogate delivers her own niece after her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer months after dream wedding despite having no symptoms

Source: Daily Mail

Randi Fishman was 28, newly married, and ready to start a family when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2011.

The crushing news was made all the more painful when her Maryland doctors said that, even if she overcame the disease, carrying children could be a risk that could cost Randi her life.

She immediately got her eggs frozen, and along with husband Zach, then also 28, started the lengthy and expensive process to find a surrogate to carry their embryos fertilized by IVF.

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