Date Published: 4 April 2007
HFEA consults on ways to reduce avoidable problems for IVF babies
Fertility regulator launches public consultation to find best ways of reducing
the proportion of multiple births after IVF
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is launching a public consultation on April 4 to find the best way to reduce avoidable problems for IVF children and their mothers who can suffer serious and long-term complications from twin births.
The HFEA will be listening closely to patients and professionals over the next three months to find the best way of reducing the proportion of multiple births after IVF. The key aim is to find the most effective way to do this whilst still allowing clinicians to tailor their treatment to each woman's individual circumstances and without prejudicing her chances of IVF success. Public meetings for both patients and clinicians will be held during the consultation to allow debate and further feedback into the consultation.
The consultation paper proposes four main options to help clinics reduce multiple birth rates:
- Increasing awareness of multiple births risks among clinics and patients and encourage increased use of single embryo transfer
- To phase in a maximum twin rate of 10% which clinics must not exceed
- To develop HFEA guidance to define when only one embryo should be replaced
- To apply HFEA guidance for single embryo transfer if clinics exceed twin rate of 10%
The consultation follows last year's report by a group of experts,
including fertility clinicians and patients, chaired by Professor
Peter Braude
from King's College London. The group agreed that IVF children must
be given
a better chance
to be born as healthy, full-term, singletons with a normal birthweight.
The Braude report further recommended that the only safe way to reduce
the risk
for IVF babies was to move towards transferring one embryo in those
women with the best chance of IVF success. This would not mean that
all women
would have
a single embryo transferred or that double embryo transfers will
be banned. Instead, they suggested that a woman with a good chance of
IVF success
should have her embryos implanted one at a time, with frozen cycles
following the
initial fresh transfer, to reduce the risk multiple births pose to
herself and the children she might carry.
A number of key professional bodies and patient organisations are expected to participate in the public consultation and the meetings to give their views on the best way to make IVF safer. The consultation is due to report in Autumn 2007.
Shirley Harrison, Chair of the HFEA, said:
" We know that multiple birth is the single biggest risk of IVF. "It is our primary job as a regulator to make sure that IVF treatment is safe and appropriate. We want clinics to reduce multiple births and minimise the risks for both mothers and the children they are carrying.
_ The most important thing that we are looking for in this consultation is to find a solution that is workable in practice for all involved. Proper consultation is much more than just presenting the issues, it is about listening to the views of a wide range of people so that we can work together towards the best possible outcome for mothers and their children.
_ This consultation will be about finding a way to reduce the risk of multiple births without prejudicing women's chances of IVF in a way which doctors feel they can work with whilst still tailoring their treatment to the individual circumstances of each patient they see."
Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), UK.
