At the Down to a Science Fertility event, an audience member asked a question on spotting fertile women just from their appearance. People laughed at the question & incredulous response from the speakers. Alas, that question proved prophetic. A recent study just released in Evolution and Human Behavior indicated you can spot fertile women, though the message conveyed “subtle behavioral signals”. The study collected data from 5300 lap dances over a 60 day period. Dancers in the highest fertility stage, estrous, raked in $70/hr vs $35/hr with those menstruating.

Takeaway:
Be careful what time of month you go to the club. And you CANT ask a stupid question at a science cafe.

More Info:
Science Article on the study

The authors of the paper, themselves married, looked at a massive database of Swedish couples. In the couples where the age difference was about 5 years, they produced about 5% more children than same age couples. In addition, they analyzed divorces. Divorced men on average chose a younger woman. The paper claims a “fitness basis” in people’s choice of partner, lending to a natural selection effect over time.

Takeaway
Not much here, there isn’t enough data to make a connection over a long period of time. But hey, if you’re dating a younger woman or an older man…more power to you. Call me an evolutionary loser since my girlfriend is older.

More Info
Swedish Paper

The study has its share of critics. Many claim the researchers were not well versed in PGS techniques, leading to implantation of many “bad” embryos. Regardless, the study does show there maybe a problem with this technique, a technique which was adopted very quickly.

Video, Pics, and Presentations from the Fertility Science Cafe are now up on the website.

The fertility cafe was a great event, I encourage anyone that has general fertility questions to watch the video and download the presentations.

Videos are also up on my YouTube channel in smaller 10 min segments.

A few highlights of the bill include:

* The bill acknowledges in its opening lines that infertility affects approximately 10% of the reproductive-aged population; that the majority of insurance plans do not provide coverage for infertility treatment; and that “a fundamental part of the human experience is fulfilling the desire to reproduce.”
* The bill defines infertility as “a disease or condition that results in the abnormal function of the reproductive system,” and encompasses not only those of us who can’t conceive within a year, but those who can’t carry a pregnancy to term.
* The bill calls for coverage of up to four IVF retrievals, or, “if a live birth follows a completed oocyte retrieval, then at least 2 more completed oocyte retrievals shall be covered, with a lifetime cap of six retrievals.”
* The bill’s definition of ART includes IVF, GIFT, ZIFT, embryo cryopreservation, egg or embryo donation, and surrogate birth.

RESOLVE has created an online form letter that can be sent to your congressman to support the bill.

Fertility Drugs
Drugs such as Clomiphene and gonadotropins are used to trigger your eggs during ovulation by regulating hormones. Success rates can be anywhere from 20-60 percent when combined with artificial insemination. The costs is anywhere from $50 to $5000/month depending on the drug and the frequency of doctor visits.

Artificial Insemination
A concentrated sperm dose from your partner is injected into the uterus. Success is in the 5 to 25 percent range with a cost of $300 to $700 per procedure.

Surgery
Many surgeries are available from relieving blocked fallopian tubes to eliminating endometriosis. The success rates are widely varied depending on the procedure. Costs range from $3,000 to $10,000.

IVF (in vitro fertilization)
An egg is surgically removed from your ovary and is fertilized in a lab. The fertilized embryo is then placed back into the uterus. Success rates range from 28 to 35%.

GIFT (gamete intrafallopian transfer)
Like IVF, egg and sperm are mixed in a lab. The mixture is then injected into the fallopian tube so that fertilization can occur naturally in the body. Success is 25 to 30% with costs between $8,000 to $15,000.

ZIFT (zygote intrafallopian transfer)
Like IVF, egg and sperm are fertilized in a lab. The mixture is then injected into the fallopian tubes. Success is 25 to 30% with costs between $8,000 to $15,000.

ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection)
A sperm is directly injected into an egg and then placed into a uterus. This procedure has made oocyte cryopreservation more possible. Success is 35% with costs between $10,000 to $17,000.

Surrogate Mothers
Costs are 15 to 50K with a high percentage of the cost going to legal fees.

Dr. Cedars was on Oprah in May of 2002. Click the “After the Show” link to see video of various women asking Dr. Cedars questions.

On the Oprah page, you can find additional information about the link between age and fertility. I personally love the common misconception page.

I was stunned to read your lifestyle (diet and excercise) are not important factors in your egg’s health. Genetics seem to be a very important factor, so talk to your mother ladies!

Also, the pill has little or no effect on your ability to get pregnant. Another misconception I had. I guess I’m not a fertility expert.

In the May 3rd issue of Human Reproduction, Queen’s University researcher’s show a link between diabetes and low sperm quality. There was no significant difference in sperm concentration, appearance, or mobility. There was a small reduction in sperm volume. But the most significant affect was a higher DNA fragmentation, 53% versus 32% in non-diabetics. DNA fragmentation could affect the ability to fertilize an egg and even lead to abnormalities in an offspring.

Sperm DNA does not have the ability to repair itself unlike other DNA in the body. The damage is permanent.

The authors of the study admit more work is to be done, including analyzing birth defects in children with diabetic fathers.

Healthy sperm look like points of light. The DNA fragmented sperm have tails on the end.

Read the full article here.

Credit: Phil Berardelli, ScienceNow Daily News
Photo Credit: Sheena Lewis, co-author of the paper

In the April 20th issue of Science, the increased usage of oocyte cryopreservation is discussed. Frozen oocytes is the future. Why? Unlike frozen embryos, there isn’t the ethical dilemna. It’s an unfertilized egg, no one considers that life yet. Frozen embryos have successfully been thawed and implanted via IVF. There have been about 300,000 frozen embryo births. However, frozen egg births are only account for about 300.

Back to the freeze. So why can’t we just freeze it and thaw it for later use? Sounds simple. Alton Brown will take it from here.

A new technique called ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) has been developed to essentially shoot a sperm right into the egg. This technique has revived the oocyte cryopreservation industry.

In the past, eggs have been frozen in a very slow, controlled method. The thaw is very fast. Commerical companies, such as Cryo Eggs, use this practice and claim 61% survival rate. The slow process yields smaller ice crystals which when thaw do less damage to the cell. The concern: long term studies have not been done on the resulting babies. The crystal formation may result in higher birth defects.

A new process has sprung up called vitrification. Essentially the egg is cooled incredibly fast, with liquid nitrogen, to prevent any ice crystal formation. Instead a glass-like clear cell is formed.

Even with all of these advances, a report in Fertility and Sterility by Oktay shows only 3 to 4% of frozen eggs yield a baby vs 6 to 8% with fresh eggs. Stick with fresh unless you absolutely need frozen.

Right now, cryopreservation is mainly used to help cancer patients with fertility. Within the next few years, there is hope that is will spread.

In my brief study of fertility, I found this to be a taboo topic, yet affects SO many people. What would be the effect of having a frank dialogue on fertility?

BTW I call bullshit on anyone who claims its mainly a womens issue. I have too many male friends that are actively tackling the issue for it not to affect men.

Today I contacted doctors both at UCSF and Stanford today to potentially speak about the issue.

My goal is to cater to my audience. So I pose the question, would you be interested fertility cafe? Most likely focused on debunking myths (I will not use the term “mythbuster”) and where the research is heading. Drop me a line or just comment on this post to let me know.