Fresh hope for infertile women
PA Wellington. A new insemination technique for infertile women is proving successful in Australia and may soon be introduced in New Zealand. The Gamete intro-fallo-pian transfer (G.Lf.t.) process has fertilisation of an egg by semen in the patient’s fallopian tube.
It is distinct from invitro techniques, where fertilisation is in an artificial environment with subsequent body implantation.
Professor John Hutton, head of Wellington Hospital’s department of gynaecology, said the success rate of in-vitro fertilisation cases was about 17 per cent. With the G.l.f.t. process, about 25 per cent of women were becoming pregnant.
Professor Hutton said the problem of infertility was usually either an inability to get the sperm to the end of the fallopian tube, or a difficulty in getting the egg picked up at the end.
With the G.i.f.t. system the eggs were slipped with a fine catheter in the end of the fallopian tube, with the sperm, so fertilisation occurred in the tube itself.
implantation in the womb took place four or five days later.
Professor Hutton said the experiments were done with people who had unexplained infertility or where there were low sperm counts. He emphasised that the numbers of people implanted using the technique were too small for absolute confidence. It did seem, however, there was a higher success rate than with in-vitro fertilisation. The head of the in-vitro fertilisation programme at National Women’s Hospital, Dr Freddie Graham, said he was sure the technique would be used in New Zealand once further research had confirmed its effectiveness.
The technique could not be used in cases of blocked fallopian tubes, he said. “But it does show the fallopian tube is a better place to fertilise than the test tube — and you would expect that”
Dr Graham said the technique ; surmounted some of the ethical problems of new birth technologies. It also cut out laboratory time which made it cheaper than invitro fertilisation. Because of the advantages, it was likely there would be public demand. There was, however, still a risk of multiple pregnancies. z
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Press, 12 February 1986, Page 24
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343Fresh hope for infertile women Press, 12 February 1986, Page 24
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