Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 22, 1990 TAG: 9003222009
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The tubs contain frozen sperm packed in liquid nitrogen. They'll be shipped to infertility doctors all over the country, said Edward F. Fugger, director of the institute's Cryobank that freezes sperm and embryos for infertile couples. The center ships out about 1,200 doses of sperm a year.
Around the corner are photos of embryonic cells dividing and of babies born to patients at the institute.
"It must be so exciting for them to know how they contributed, to know they made all these people's dreams come true. That's what they did for us," said Susan Smith, 38, of Bethesda, Md. Her daughter, Madeleine, conceived after six tries of in vitro fertilization at the institute, turned 3 March 18.
In vitro fertilization involves removing eggs and sperm from the woman and man, fertilizing the eggs, and implanting an embryo or embryos in the woman's body. The center can freeze some of the embryos for use later if the first try is unsuccessful.
Founded in 1984 in collaboration with the Fairfax Hospital Association, the institute has one of the largest programs in the country in medical genetics, human infertility and in vitro fertilization, doctors there said.
Making these dreams come true isn't cheap. Smith and her husband, Bob, spent about $21,000 - at more than $3,000 for each session of in vitro fertilization - before having Madeleine. They have already spent about $25,000 in an attempt to have another child. Insurance does not cover the cost, she said.
Smith heard about the IVF institute and said she was attracted to it because it was one of the first infertility clinics to offer a non-surgical egg retrieval method and because it was close to her home. The patient may return home within an hour or two after the eggs are retrieved.
Doctors took blood every morning, she took hormones every night, and after the seventh day, she went in every day to have her hormone levels checked to determine what day would be the best to retrieve the eggs.
Six weeks after three embryos were implanted, Smith learned she was carrying twins. Two weeks later, she was able to see the heartbeats.
"I have the videotape of their little heartbeats," she said. "I guess they were about the size of pieces of rice. We were all picking ourselves up off the floor. I think everybody cried."
Her pregnancy was a difficult one, and she spent the last several months of it in the hospital and lost one of the babies.
About 10 percent of couples in the United States are unable to normally conceive a child. The average age of a woman seeking help with infertility at IVF is 34. Twenty percent of the patients are 40 or older. The institute has had births in patients as old as 43.
The pregnancy rate for the best candidates, young women with tubal disease, is 25 percent, said Joseph D. Schulman, director of the institute.
The institute has done 1,900 embryo transfers, resulting in 317 pregnancies and 210 babies. About 15 percent of the deliveries were multiple births.
The overall pregnancy rate for women at the center, many of whom are older and whose husbands also have fertility problems, is 5 percent, he said.
"The older you get, the harder time you have to try to get a pregnancy," Schulman said.
With the advent of AIDS, the need became evident for sperm banks that could freeze and save sperm so that the man could be tested for the fatal disease up to six months after donating.
"There used to be a lot of tiny little sperm banks run by infertility doctors doing insemination with fresh sperm," Schulman said. "A lot of these little sperm banks have closed down."
Sperm donors also are tested for diseases and conditions from sickle cell anemia to color blindness, Fugger said. Their chromosome are analyzed. The institute takes a medical history from both sides of the potential sperm donor's family. By the time all that weeding out is done, only 12 percent of applicants are accepted, he said.
Prospective embryo donors also are carefully screened, he said.
The institute also has three offices in Texas from where it solicits sperm donations from college students.
Members of the staff have been involved with human in vitro fertilization since 1973, more than five years before it was clinically successful.
Patients at the center can attempt to get pregnant several ways using frozen or fresh, sperm and embryos. Eggs and sperm can come from either the prospective parents or from donors. The center also has what it calls a host uterus program. Sperm donors are paid $40 a donation.
"Once we get a pregnancy going and see a heartbeat on the ultrasound, then it's just another pregnancy," Schulman said.
by CNB