Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick await twins via surrogacy

In case you've been under a rock the past few days, and haven't been following the "baby" news...we have yet another celebrity spotlight shining on gestational surrogacy. This week, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have announced that they are expecting twin girls this summer via a surrogacy arrangement. Looks like pretty soon Ferris Bueller is going to need more than just one day off!

Read on...

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20275425,00.html

National Infertility Awareness Week

This Friday April 25^th marks the kickoff of the 20th Anniversary of Resolve's National Infertility Awareness Week. National Infertility Week is a movement to raise awareness about the disease of infertility which affects 7.3 million Americans. This is a great opportunity to get involved in and help to support a great organization which has helped countless couples and individuals with their struggle through infertility. When you are in the midst of something as challenging and at times painful as infertility can be, there is no greater comfort than the company of others who are experiencing many of the emotions and perspectives.

There are seminars, peer support groups and professionally led support groups on topics such as egg donation, embryo donation, surrogacy and adoption. A great way to help yourself while helping others. www.resolve.org/takecharge

Talking with children about egg donation

After making the decision to work with an egg donor, Intended Parents suddenly become aware of an entirely new range of questions related to parenting. One of the most thought-provoking is the question of how they will discuss the issue with their child or children, if at all. The AFA (The American Fertility Association) has put together a tremendously useful, up-to-date and informative article and list of resources specifically for addressing this very important question.

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Talking with Children about Ovum Donation

Introduction

The first birth of a child conceived through ovum donation occurred in 1984. Since then an increasing number of fertility patients have used egg donation to become parents. As a result the number of children born via egg donation has increased every year. Although the exact number of children born from egg donation is not known, estimates are that between 1995 and 2007 there were 51,223 births recorded from fresh donor oocyte...

For full article, click on this link: http://www.theafa.org/library/article/talking_with_children_about_ovum_donation_2009/

The Surrogacy SOURCE- Special Announcement

Over the past few weeks the professional fertility community has been shaken by the revelation of the actions of a couple of surrogacy agencies, i.e. SurroGenesis and B Coming. Since then The Surrogacy SOURCE has been assessing the reported facts of these situations as they are unfolding with both anger and disdain for the alleged perpetrators, and sorrow for those who have been affected by this tragic situation.

Infertility and the subsequent journey to a baby can be one of the most emotionally and financially formidable challenges that couples and individuals will undergo. The fact that the irresponsible actions of a few may now make the decision to pursue surrogacy as an option for hopeful parents even more stressful and clouded in uncertainty is yet another tragedy created by this shocking series of events.

The vast majority of surrogacy agencies are led by dedicated, experienced professionals devoted to helping couples and individuals realize their dreams of a family, and most of them have useful and informative websites. However, Internet presence alone can be deceptive, and should never be relied on entirely when making a decision of such significance. Before choosing an agency, ask questions. Ask your IVF physician, or consult a support organization such as Resolve or The American Fertility Association. Also, there are questions that can be asked to help assess the professional caliber and standards of an agency's organization. Any reputable agency should be entirely comfortable with the following questions:

1. Has your agency ever been sued by a client, surrogate, donor or employee?
   THE SURROGACY SOURCE HAS NEVER BEEN SUED
   
   
2. What escrow company does the agency use?
   The Surrogacy SOURCE uses Allison McCloskey Escrow. Allison McCloskey has been in business since 1945, and is bonded and insured up to $5 Million.
   
   
3. What is the surrogacy agency's escrow process?
   The escrow process begins with the signing of escrow instructions by the clients (Intended Parents) and The Surrogacy SOURCE (TSS) staff, and the initial deposit is put into the escrow account. All surrogate fees and bills are paid from this account. Any requests for funds from this account will require two signatures from authorized escrow officials & TSS staff, and will be paid directly by the escrow company to each corresponding invoice. After all bills and fees related to the Surrogacy agreement have been paid, any refund due is issued to the client (Intended Parents) and the escrow account is closed.
   
   
4. What is the ownership of the company?
   The Donor SOURCE International (including The Surrogacy SOURCE) is owned by a collection of individuals, including some high reputation fertility physicians. The company is managed by Specialized Medical Management, whose president, Steve Masler, acts as the company's CEO. Mr. Masler is a CPA, has been connected with the fertility field for over 20 years, and has been CEO of Genesis Network for Reproductive Health and one of the founders of the Practice Managers professional group of ASRM.

ASRM Response to Octuplets

On Friday, 2/13, The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) put out an official response to the Suleman octuplet case. I'd like to share it with you.

I am sure all of us have followed with interest and concern the unfolding story of the Suleman octuplets in California. I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of what ASRM and SART have been doing in response.

Our Public Affairs office began taking calls (after business hours on the East Coast) the evening the birth of the octuplets was announced on Wednesday, January 28. In these early days of the story we focused on reminding the media that while the successful delivery of the octuplets was novel, such a high order multiple birth should not be considered a desirable medical outcome.

On Friday January 30th an interview with the children’s grandmother made it appear that IVF treatment had indeed been involved. That morning we released a statement from ASRM President Dale McClure MD. That statement emphasized that we did not have the facts in this case, but that in recent years ASRM and SART had been working very hard, and with a fair amount of success, to reduce the number of high order multiple births. (That statement, and all our press releases are available at www.asrm.org.) By weeks end the Public Affairs Office had responded to well over 100 calls, and ASRM staff and leaders had done dozens of interviews.

Over the course of the next week, the volume of media calls remained very, very high. However, since no new information emerged, the media questions and coverage became increasingly speculative in nature. Because we did not feel it was responsible to engage in that speculation, we began to curtail our responsiveness. Meanwhile, SART sent a communication to its membership seeking any information anyone had on the situation.

As the Today show began to air its interview with the mother on February 6, she indicated all her children were the result of IVF and all from the same physician, and subsequent media reports named the physician. On Monday February 9, ASRM President McClure issued another statement, again emphasizing the field’s success in reducing the number of high order multiples, and indicating we were interested in looking into the matter. On Tuesday, February 10th I sent a letter to the California Medical Board stating our interest in this matter and our willingness to assist them in their inquiry. SART President Elizabeth Ginsburg, MD sent a letter to the physician named in media reports to ask for information about the treatment of this patient.

Examining and learning from both successful and unsuccessful cases is a vital component of medical education and an important tool in improving clinical practice. We are seeking information so that all of us may better understand how to avoid additional extreme high order multiple births. Moreover, we have all worked too hard to improve care and reduce the number of high order multiples to allow one unfortunate outcome to taint the whole field. Both ASRM and SART have membership standards and disciplinary procedures and should the facts warrant, those procedures will be used.

It is important to note that we do not have all the facts. At present I would say we have very little information, and most of what we think we know has come from sometimes conflicting media reports. All of us need to be very cautious before coming to any conclusions. We will keep you informed as additional information becomes available.

Robert W. Rebar, M.D.
Executive Director
American Society for Reproductive Medicine

Meeting our Egg Donor

Written by Melissa, former Intended Parent with The Donor Source

Continued from Volume 4 Issue 6: "A New Year's Wish"

… We chose Chelsea as our donor on New Year’s Day 2007.

One detail of the profile we didn’t consider significant at the time of our donor selection was whether or not the donor was willing to meet with us or any children that may result from our arrangement. I couldn’t have imagined that it would ever be an important detail to us…

As it turned out, once I was pregnant and the situation became more tangible, I felt so grateful to this woman for helping us. To some degree, I wanted to have a “real” person to thank and to associate with our success. I felt very strongly that facing the mystery head on would make it less powerful. If I could meet her, hold my head up high and feel grateful, then I wouldn’t be able to feel like I had somehow failed in this major part of my life. I think some people may feel that if they don’t talk about something, it will just go away. This wouldn’t have been the case for me; it would have been my dirty little secret, always nagging at me.

When my husband and I met our donor in a café, I was already pregnant with twins and a little nervous. The donor agency sent a chaperone to maintain anonymity for both parties, which was nice mostly because she helped to break the ice. It was so wonderful to meet our donor, Chelsea, in person. We heard about her life, her interests, and how she spends her time. We talked about books and music, her major in college, and how she likes to rock climb. She was young and pretty, very charming and just what we would wish for our children to become. She commented on our similar appearances, which I felt added validity to our donor selection. At the end of the meeting it was great to have an actual person to think of in relation to the process.

At 27 weeks, I had an emergency C-section. Our baby boys were born at 2 pounds, 5 ounces and spent the next 3 months in the NICU. It was a very scary time, but as has been their pattern from before conception, our miracle babies pulled through with no issues. We spent everyday with them, holding them, feeding them and providing as much care for them as was allowed. In their room we posted a picture of them as embryos before the transfer so the nurses could marvel at the miracle. There was a picture of Chelsea right beside it. I was 37 and it had been five years since we started out journey into assisted reproduction.

Three months later we brought our beautiful boys home. They came home a few weeks before their actual due date. It seemed unreal that they were still supposed to have been inside of me, but here they were at home with us after such a long, intense ordeal.

I was a little sad that I had missed out on the end of my pregnancy. After working so hard to get there, I really loved being pregnant. Sure, there were times when it was uncomfortable and it was getting harder to maneuver my growing shape, but it was such an amazing experience to carry those two babies. There was truly never a moment that I felt they were anything less that 100% mine. I am grateful to Chelsea for her contribution, we surely wouldn’t be here without her, but there is no doubt about who our boys’ “mommy” is.

Life with our boys is so much fun. They truly are the light of our life, as well as that of their grandparents and great-grandparents. The boys’ unique conception is common knowledge for our family, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances. Neither my husband nor I felt the need to keep it private. It would have been virtually impossible to keep it a secret with all of the time off work, travel, and planning involved. We joked that if we didn’t tell people the truth, they would have thought that one of us was terminally ill because we had to travel to so many doctor appointments in the city. Even though people know the truth, it rarely comes up in conversation, or even in our thoughts. Someday we will tell our boys the story of their miracle conception.

Now our boys are almost a year old. We wanted to introduce them to Chelsea for a couple of reasons, and I’m not sure I can even explain why exactly. For one thing, I wanted her to see what an amazing thing we had done. I really think of this as a team effort, with her as a member of the team. I couldn’t imagine that she wasn’t curious about them and wouldn’t be totally awed. Who wouldn’t want to see their genetic contribution? In retrospect, I think subconsciously I wanted to make sure that there wasn’t some connection between my babies and their donor. Logically, I knew that there wouldn’t be, but emotionally maybe a little part of me just wanted confirmation? We met Chelsea again, a year and a half after our initial meeting, in the same café, again with our same chaperone, but this time, with our sons in tow.

We had a great visit together. It was very cathartic to have everyone together. She said she saw bits and pieces of herself in each of our sons, and she thought they were happy, well behaved little boys, but it was obvious she wasn’t in “baby love.” As expected, she was polite and sweet as she had been at our previous meeting. I hope the meeting with all of us gave her a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment at her contribution, as well as an understanding of our feeling of appreciation.

The process of choosing and meeting our donor was such a positive experience for us. There is absolutely nothing my husband or I would have done differently. Meeting Chelsea was a vital part of this process for us. Though I realize everyone is different, I would encourage all donor recipients to consider meeting their donor. I don’t think I can adequately express the dynamic that our relationship with Chelsea has brought to the experience. It has been irreplaceable.

US Octuplets Drama Triggers Calls For Tougher Regulations

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

Needless to say there has been huge outcry over the latest octuplets case of Ms. Suleman. Virtually all media outlets have seen fit to make the story day in and day out front page news. Judging from this article and many others of its ilk, the outcry is not necessarily that an IVF procedure resulted in an octuplet birth. The fundamental complaint is one of massive irresponsibility on the part of the mother and of the fertility doctor regarding: (1) implanting more embryos than called for by ASRM guidelines; (2) Suleman's pre existing six children added to by the eight new ones to make 14; (3) Suleman's poor financial condition with consequent presumed difficulty in supporting 14 children; (4) Suleman's status as a "welfare mother" suggesting that the cost of raising the octuplets will fall to the taxpayers; (5) Suleman's apparent search for publicity (she has hired a publicist) to turn her octuplet experience into a money making venture; and perhaps (6) the lack of a committed father since, seemingly, only a sperm donor without any support commitment was involved in all of her pregnancies.

Each or all of the six reasons for outrage listed above have legitimacy as a basis for condemning what has occurred. Perhaps some of the reasons for outrage are mitigated by facts as presented by Ms. Suleman. For example, she claims that every one of her pregnancies via IVF was based on implantation of six embryos. In spite of that, she only had singletons in the prior pregnancies. I do not know if her claims regarding prior pregnancies are validated and if she had only one offspring from each pregnancy naturally or if some or all were due to selective reduction. She also claims that the sperm donor was not the usual anonymous one but instead someone she was close to, enough so that he had contemplated marrying Ms. Suleman.

Unfortunately, after all the outrage is over and all the investigating of Ms. Suleman and/or her IVF physician are completed, we will still perhaps be left with the question: Should a mother (or parents) be prevented from asking for steps to be taken to give assurance that their search for childbirth be fulfilled? If it might take eight embryos to achieve that result, should it be legally barred? If there are no IVF doctors who would carry out the procedure, then so be it. But, making it the law? This is not China with its one child policy.

I don't know, but I suspect that there have been other cases of implantation of eight embryos by respected fertility doctors. However, I suspect again that in most if not all of those cases, the mother underwent selective reduction if too many embryos implanted. If my suspicion is true, and this is only a suspicion on my part, then could it be a crime to implant eight embryos that get carried to term if it is not a crime to implant that number, when some or all fail to make it to the end?

Click on the link below to access the article mentioned above:
US Octuplets Drama Triggers Calls For Tougher Regulations

A New Year's Wish Part I

Written by Melissa, former Intended Parent with The Donor Source

I stopped trying not to get pregnant when I was 26. Two years later I was still not pregnant. I assumed it would just happen, but when it didn’t, my family doctor prescribed Clomid. After several rounds of Clomid and still no luck, it was recommended that I see my gynecologist. Getting to the doctor for a diagnosis wasn’t at the top of my priority list. My husband and I were busy with our business, our dogs, our life; it didn’t seem like a huge rush. And I wasn’t really worried because I was still under 30 and none of my friends had kids. I had plenty of time, or so I thought. When I finally made it to the doctor and it was determined that there were no obvious physical issues standing it the way of pregnancy, I was immediately referred to specialists for further investigation. They diagnosed me with advanced ovarian aging. After the first round of in vitro was cancelled mid cycle, due to ovarian cysts, my doctor told me it would be best to abandon my quest to get pregnant unless I had unlimited “emotional and financial resources.” I was 32.

If I had gone directly to another fertility clinic after I received that diagnosis, things might have gone differently. Instead, I tried to forget about the diagnosis. Then I decided that surely this was something I could change – diet, exercise, supplements, acupuncture, yoga for fertility. I did everything I could find that offered any hope of success. When I finally did go to another fertility clinic, it was indeed too late.

At age 35, my options for getting pregnant were now limited to using donor eggs. Of course, adoption was always presented as an alternative, but I had always seen myself being pregnant. Acquaintances who were adopting couldn’t figure out why that route was not acceptable for me. They felt that with a guarantee of success through adoption, why would we take the chance of in vitro with a donor when it may not be successful? The success rates normally quoted for donor cycles are in the 65-70% range, which we felt were great.

I really could not imagine living my life and never having been pregnant. It was an experience that I had looked forward to since I could remember and felt I could not do without, regardless of the emotional or financial costs. The search for a donor began.

When my husband and I began researching donors, we looked at pictures and read profiles online. We looked at several donor agencies and lots of donor profiles. We really tried to keep our search local, but sometimes a donor from across the country would interest us. In the end, the logistics and finances seemed so much more manageable if we could keep things, if not in our state, then at least in a nearby state. I really battled over which qualities were important to us. Looks? Personality? Values? Interests? All of the above?

I was tormented by what it would be like to have a child conceived with donor eggs from a donor who looked like me. Would it be more honest to myself and the world if I choose a donor who didn’t look like me? I imagined future scenarios in which someone would comment that the child looked just like me. What would I say? Would it be a lie if I didn’t explain that no, the child didn’t actually resemble me, but instead the donor who coincidently looked like me?

In the end, we decided we would make our final donor selection after the holiday bustle on New Year’s Day 2007. We had several donors picked out. Ironically, our final choice Chelsea was not one of those we had initially chosen. I printed out a few profiles and pictures for final review on January 1st, but all of them seemed to have something about them that wasn’t ideal. My husband suggested we go through our donor options online one last time. That was when we found a perfect donor - a great combination of family resemblance, values, and interests. We chose Chelsea as our donor on New Year’s Day 2007.

To be continued...

The Donor SOURCE has hit 1000 donors!

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

The Donor SOURCE, a division of Fertility SOURCE Companies,is pleased to announce that we now have over ONE THOUSAND (1000) donors in our registry!

We offer one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive egg donor databases, each donor carefully screened and counseled about her role and obligation as an egg donor.

Search our donor database for free! http://www.theDonorSOURCE.com. Click on the link and complete the intended parent contact form to receive your username and password.

The Donor SOURCE is a national egg donor program with a local presence in an increasing number of metro-areas across the United States!

Check out our Growing List of Partner Clinics.
http://www.TheDonorSOURCE.com

The Donor SOURCE – Special Announcement Regarding Egg Freezing

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

The Donor SOURCE International is proud to announce it has completed the 1st Egg Freezing case, working in conjunction with The San Diego Fertility Center. 46 eggs were retrieved, and out of those eggs retrieved, 42 were viable to be frozen for later use in Egg Donor cases.

Donor egg banking: deliveries from cryopreserved donor oocytes-a new paradigm for egg donation?

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

One of a number of recent studies of the effectiveness of frozen eggs. This study is interesting in that it compares--for donor derived eggs--vitrification vs. slow freeze, and fresh cycles vs. frozen cycles, albeit with a very small sample. The study would seem to demonstrate the comparability of vitrification and slow freeze and the superior results with frozen over fresh eggs. More studies, such as this one, are tending to appear that demonstrate the potential for frozen egg results to exceed comparable results with fresh eggs. The profession appears to be encouraged to consider more use of frozen eggs than ever before, providing more results to help determine true effectiveness and efficiency of cryopreservation for oocytes.

Please note: At this time the abstract to this article is not available.

EMD Serono launches patient registry for egg freezing

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

Serono has launched a noteworthy project that is no doubt connected to the rapidly growing interest in egg freezing for all manners of conditions, not the least of which is freezing of donor eggs for later provision to recipients. ASRM 2008 was replete with scientific presentations and posters on various studies of the application of egg freezing. Judging from anecdotal comments heard at the conference, egg freezing will be a larger part of the repetoire of fertility practices in 2009 than it has ever been before. Serono's intended efforts at evaluation of the two techniques commonly used in egg freezing, "slow-cooling" and "vitrification" can be valuable but may be too little (400 women) and protracted over too long a period (three year recruitment period plus two year additional tracking period) to have large effects on its own. But, as a starter to encourage others to enter the fray, it is very timely.

Click on the link below to access the article mentioned above:
EMD Serono launches patient registry for egg freezing

Oocyte donation program using egg cryo-banking

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

ASRM 2008 in San Francisco was like a coming out party for oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing). It seems that many have become convinced via studies that egg freezing for various applications is now viable and that it not only is a more efficient method for egg donation (than fresh egg donation) but also a less costly one to the patient. Numerous scientific presentations and posters dealt with comparisons of vitrification and slow freezing as well as the application of egg freezing in general.

One poster was regarding a frozen egg bank of 61 donors that had been established by a single fertility practice. The same group will be publishing an article in Fertility & Sterility that will the results of a study comparing the use of frozen eggs from donors who had previously donated fresh eggs. The conclusion presented is "The present study demonstrates that oocyte cryopreservation can be considered as a tool to provide highly successful outcomes in an egg donor program. Our results validate the use of oocyte cryo-banking for egg donation purposes. In addition to the high success rates, oocyte cryo-banking can help to eliminate some of the obstacles associated with the current "fresh embryo" transfer policy. Oocyte cryo-banking will also dramatically reduce frozen embryo storage and mitigate related moral/ethical concerns, and may help with donor-recipient synchronization and possibly reduce cost."

Anecdotally, many fertility practitioners returned from ASRM believing that the time for large scale movement toward egg freezing for donor situations as well as for other applications has arrived.

Click on the link below to access the abstract for Fertility & Sterility article mentioned above:
Clinical evaluation of the efficiency of an oocyte donation program using egg cryo-banking

Key Points from Directions and Trends in Egg Freezing Symposium

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

As a follow up to our last blog posting, our speakers identified key points from each of their presentations delivered at our New York symposium, Directions and Trends in Egg Freezing. As mentioned previously, the speaker's subjects were in regard to Legal, Ethical and Scientific/Medical issues in what is becoming a rapidly progressing technology aimed at making the egg donation process more efficient from a coordination and cost standpoint. Following are the speakers' key points:

Brent Barrett, PhD, HCLD, Scientific and Laboratory Director for Boston IVF, names: evolving technology, particularly in regard to vitrification (fast freeze); potential for FDA to become involved in oversight of egg freezing programs; growing identification of benefits to recipients from pursuing egg freezing processes.

Susan Crockin, JD, Crockin Law and Policy Group, names: issues created by the separation of the egg donation act from the receipt of eggs by the recipient patient; ultimate resolution of unique legal issues including control over frozen eggs, structure of payments, and recording and storing of information.

Fertility Source Companies intends to create a List-Serv for the purpose of further discussion about the above issues. Please note that if you are interested in subscribing to the List-Serv, please email fscmoderator@yahoo.com.

Infertility patients caught in the legal, moral and scientific embryo debate

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

The Los Angeles Times of Monday, October 6 includes several articles about the dilemma facing the fertility world regarding its accumulation of about (at present) 500,000 frozen embryos. Though the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) permits fertility practices to discard abandoned embryos after five years of storage, no fertility practice has seen fit to implement such an unapproved (by the relevant IVF patient) destruction of embryos.

The articles go on to discuss adoption and research alternatives for frozen embryos. The articles indicate that though there is wide spread support for donation of embryos to research on the part of fertility patients, practical matters make such research donation difficult to achieve in most cases, and in many states.

The articles do not discuss another alternative approach to the frozen embryo dilemma. That is the fertilization of frozen eggs in lieu of using fresh eggs for IVF procedures. When eggs are frozen after being retrieved in an IVF procedure, only a select number need be fertilized with the rest retained in a frozen egg bank. Few, if any, people question that a frozen egg is in any way a potential person. Rather it is viewed as a gamete that is not complete toward forming a human. Ultimate destruction of excess frozen eggs, if any, is apt to be much more accepted than destruction of frozen embryos.

The technology of egg freezing has been dramatically improving in recent years as to its chances for successful pregnancies and births. As the technology improves even more, the emotional benefits of avoiding an excess of frozen embryos is apt to cause the procedure to become much more prevalent.

Click on the link below to see the recap of this article:
Infertility patients caught in the legal, moral and scientific embryo debate

Directions and Trends in Egg Freezing Symposium

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

Fertility Source Companies sponsored and hosted a symposium in New York City on Directions and Trends in Egg Freezing. The program was arranged to present the legal, ethical and scientific/medical issues involved in what is becoming a rapidly progressing technology aimed at making the egg donation process more efficient from a coordination and cost standpoint.

Presenters were psychotherapist, Patricia Mendel, LCSW speaking on ethical issues; Susan L. Crockin, JD, speaking on legal issues; and Brent Barrett, Ph.D., H.C.L.D. speaking on scientific/medical issues.

The audience, largely comprised of physicians and their clinical staff from various fertility practices, was highly interactive with the speakers, engaging them in dialogue about cases they experienced in their own practices as well as directions for egg freezing in the fertility community at large.

Among the issues that were covered at the symposium were the following:

Legal Issues:
· Who owns the frozen donor eggs?
· Are the eggs bought and sold?
· What rights might the donor have over use of her eggs?
· Likelihood of prompting FDA quarantine (a la sperm banks)

Medical Issues:
· Vitrification (fast freeze) or slow freeze
· How many eggs in a batch?
· Success rates

Ethical Issues:
· Limits on donor compensation
· Reduction of frozen embryos (a plus)
· Experimental procedure
· Disposition of residual eggs (beyond batches)

Financial Issues:
· Donor compensation
· Pricing

Fertility SOURCE Companies would very much appreciate your thoughts and comments on any of the issues mentioned above. Hopefully, this will bring new light to many in the Third Party Reproduction field.

Fertility & Sterility article Researching Human Oocyte Cryopreservation Ethical Issues

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

In their well written and thoughtful article, Drs. de Melo-Martin and Cholst point out many of the ethical dilemmas facing the fertility profession regarding performance of oocyte cryopreservation procedures in cases of cancer patients, fertility extension and egg donation.

Though this author agrees with the various ethical dilemmas (and resolutions proposed) identified in the article, I suggest consideration be given to one of presented ethical issues in an additional way.

In an attempt to define the categories of fertility patients who could ethically be included in a research protocol involving cryopreservation of oocytes, the authors name "Possibly women to whom it would be ethically appropriate to offer the option to participate in oocytye cryopreservation protocols [if they are] opposed to embryo cryopreservation."

Considering the above, I would suggest that the fertility profession itself has implicitly defined continuing additions to the already nationally large stock of cryopreserved embryos, many of which will never be implanted, as an ethical issue in its own right. Therefore, regardless of the views of individual patients, which many if not most of the time will not be explicitly clear on the point, the ethical dilemma of continued addition to the accumulation of frozen embryos should be sufficient to motivate the fertility profession to a more expansive view of eligible participants for oocyte cryopreservation protocols.

Click on the link below to access the abstract:
Researching Human Oocyte Cryopreservation Ethical Issues

Donor Egg: DNA Transfer

The following question was recently posed to us from Heather on Thursday, August 21, 2008:

Does anyone out there know anything about DNA transfer into a donor egg. i.e. I have read about oocyte use as a vehicle to carry DNA by withdrawing the donor's DNA and injecting the receiver's DNA. Any thoughts? Has anyone heard a doctor who does the relatively new procedure of DNA transfer through the use of a donor's egg? For example, withdrawing the donor's DNA and injecting the receiver's DNA so that the baby has the same DNA as it's parents-to-be.

We now have an answer to her question from a very prominent scientific researcher in the field of IVF, Dr. Jacques Cohen, Director of Reprogenetics and Tyho Galileo Research Laboratories.

The question is semantically describing a procedure that appears a substitute of cloning. The US government has curtailed such research and experimental work in a letter to all IVF clinics in 2001 which was publicized widely and accepted by the clinical community http://www.fda.gov/CBER/genetherapy/clone.htm. There is currently no evidence that the approach would be a good or safe alternative to standard IVF with gamete donation. Based on numerous publications from the animal science literature the offspring from such experiments may have a greater likelihood of anomalies compared to standard reproductive technology. Based on our understanding of the processes involved and the outcomes of animal experimentation, it is currently not recommended to pursue this avenue.

I hope this helps.

Guest Blogger: WonderWomb

Fertility SOURCE Companies is pleased to announce the newest addition to The SOURCE Forum blog, WonderWomb.

A three-time surrogate mother herself, WonderWomb is a highly dedicated and compassionate individual whose combined personal and professional experience uniquely qualify her to respond to your surrogacy questions and comments. With over twelve years of experience, she has assisted over two-hundred families realize their dreams of parenthood.

Please join us in welcoming WonderWomb to The SOURCE Forum family!

Surrogate Baby at Center of Legal Tussle

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

Oprah may be willing to dedicate an entire one hour TV show to surrogacy in India and to actually give it at least her tacit blessing, but lets be realistic, how much money has to be saved by Intended Parents to make it worth the potential complications?

A Japanese couple got divorced in the midst of a surrogacy process in India. The genetic mother rejected the child. So, you think that the father got the child? Think again. According to Indian law, the father has to legally adopt the child. But, that process takes a long time. The child's grandmother (the father's mother) has temporary custody but her travel visa expires in three months and after that the child's future is uncertain. The story may ultimately have a happy ending, but even if it does, the stress and cost for the family must be enormous. The child's father is an Orthopedic Surgeon. Was he really making a wise move pursuing the surrogacy process in India?

In fact, the rise in the number of foreigners arriving in India to search for surrogate mothers has prompted the Indian authorities to consider strict regulations to protect the rights of surrogate mothers and children born to them.

As often is the case, buyer beware, but the potential morass would be Intended Parents are facing with Indian surrogacy cases may be beyond the pale.

Click on the link below to see the recap of this article:
Surrogate baby at centre of legal tussle