Baby girl is first Irish birth following more economical IVF

Medics at an Irish hospital are reporting the first birth here by means of a new natural cycle (NC) method of IVF.

Doctors at the HARI (Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland) centre at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin are reporting that a baby girl was recently born using the natural cycle method that included an intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

The costs are one third of those faced by couples seeking to reproduce through conventional IVF.

The birth is reported in the current edition of the Irish Medical Journal and one of the doctors in the case, Dr Sajida Detho, said yesterday: “Natural cycle IVF is hope for women who have previously failed conventional IVF cycle or with very less number of eggs or women who do not want to take IVF medication due to its side effects, and men who have severe sperm problems with a perfect female partner.”

Dr Detho said it was “more economical in the sense that three natural cycles can be conducted at price of one conventional IVF cycle”.

He confirmed that the natural cycle IVF for women has no side-effect of medication, is more patient-friendly, and there are less frequent visits to the IVF unit.

The report states that the NC IVF has a negligible multiple pregnancy rate compared with 20% to 30% multiple pregnancy rates for IVF with the risk of twins increased twenty-fold in IVF.

The report into the case states that the couple in the case had a 30-month history of primary sub-fertility and had attended for discussion of assisted reproduction technique options. The report states the couple failed twice at getting pregnant through the intrauterine insemination (IUI) method.

The medics say the lower pregnancy rate per cycle for NC IVF could help to explain why the technique has not been accepted widely by reproductive medicine practitioners.

The paper states: “Cumulative live birthrates after four cycles can reach 32%, comparable with 34% for conventional IVF .

The paper adds: “Yet, NC IVF is cheaper, less time-consuming, requires less medication, and with costs per cycle 20-23% of stimulated IVF.”