IVF firms ‘sell couples extras they don’t need’
COUPLES desperate to have children are being sold extra services by fertility clinics despite little evidence they work, a watchdog warns.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority fears patients are often confused by the ‘add-ons’ and pay for them needlessly.
Supposed to boost IVF success, the extras include immune system suppressants, pre-implantation testing and time-lapse photography.
But experts said there was little or no evidence these methods worked. Some might even be harmful.
In a series of interviews published by The Independent, experts claimed some clinics were handing out ‘expensive, potentially harmful stuff like Smarties’ and patients were ‘subject to exploitation’.
One former specialist said around half the patients at one clinic did not even need help to have a baby.
Sally Cheshire, who chairs the HFEA, said: ‘Although the vast majority of clinics provide excellent care for fertility patients, we are becoming increasingly concerned about IVF treatment add-ons without a strong evidence base being offered at some clinics.
‘Patients are often not sure whether they need the additional treatments, but worry that they could regret not making every attempt they can to get pregnant.’
She said the HFEA was working with scientists and the industry to ‘provide accurate and easy-tounderstand information about these new treatments’.
Professor Ashley Moffett, a Cambridge University immunologist, said many patients believed an implanted foetus could be attacked by the mother’s immune system because half of its DNA came from the father. This led to many women taking drugs to suppress their immune system.
She said: ‘That’s a very attractive idea, but it’s actually not correct. But it’s become firmly embedded and it’s extremely hard to dislodge it, even among scientists.’
Professor Adam Balen, who chairs the British Fertility Society, which speaks on behalf of the industry, said: ‘Clinics have to be transparent and be open and provide appropriate information about exactly what it is they are offering and provide their own statistics as to the potential prospects of success.
‘All of these treatments have been tested around the world and have been studied in clinical trials. None have been shown to do harm.’