Mother protests outside Irish Fertility Society meeting

A MOTHER whose daughter died as a result of fertility treatment complications protested with family and friends outside the venue of the inaugural meeting of the Irish Fertility Society yesterday.

Angela Hickey’s daughter, Jacqueline Rushton, 33, died in January 2003 from respiratory problems arising from a combination of her ovaries producing too many eggs and a high level of oestrogen in her blood.

An inquest into her death ruled in April 2004 that it was due to medical misadventure. Ms Rushton and her husband Daniel had been trying for children and in November 2002 they decided to begin a course of IVF treatment. Over the following two months, Ms Rushton showed an overreaction to the IVF treatment and died on January 14.

Ms Hickey said she was not against IVF but wanted fertility experts attending the conference in the Radisson Hotel in Dublin to be aware of what happened to her daughter.

“Please think of Jacqueline and her life, which is lost to her and her family,” she urged.

The Irish Fertility Society aims to provide a forum for all health professionals working in the area of human fertility to discuss latest developments.

About 4,000 couples are undergoing IVF treatment and all are made aware of the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) when attending the clinics, according to the National Infertility Support and Information Group.

Last month a woman died in Britain after developing the same condition as Ms Rushton, OHSS.

The potentially fatal form of the condition affects about 1% undergoing IVF. A less severe form is more common.