IVF clinics’ cruel promises
she had the treatment, which can cost up to £30,000. But official statistics show only about 15 per cent of IVF cycles using frozen eggs are successful.
Another consultant said freezing ‘15 or 20 eggs’ was an ‘insurance policy’ for the future – even though watchdog figures show only one in about 50 frozen eggs leads to a baby.
As the HFEA launched the probe, IVF pioneer Lord Robert Winston said clinics were exploiting desperate women.
The Mail Investigations Unit yesterday revealed IVF clinics are convincing women on low incomes to donate eggs in return for cash or free fertility treatment. In further developments yesterday:
Distraught women contacted the Mail to say they had been exploited by egg-sharing schemes and are now haunted by the thought of other couples bringing up their children;
MPs demanded on overhaul of fertility legislation to protect women.
Our reporter was encouraged to freeze her eggs at the Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health in London. She was told she would have a 65 per cent chance of a baby with frozen eggs.
When the reporter said she was 30 and did not want a baby for another ten years, fertility consultant Dr Vidya Atluri said: ‘Then it’s a good idea to freeze the eggs. It is a very good idea to freeze the eggs.’
Dr James Nicopoullos, consultant gynaecologist at the Lister Fertility Clinic in London, told patients: ‘In my mind, 15 or 20 eggs as an egg-freezing bank is the sort of number that would make me think you have a reasonable insurance policy.’
Last night, Lord Winston said: ‘These women are not being given a true account of how the process works. Giving them false information is an outrage.’
Susan Seenan, chief executive of Fertility Network UK said: ‘‘Anyone considering this should be given accurate information on the potential success rate for their own individual circumstances.’
The Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health said the conversation the reporter had with Dr Atluri was during a ‘complimentary mini-consultation’ and that any patient who signed up would be fully assessed for suitability, as well as having counselling and being informed about success rates in more detail.
A spokesman said: ‘We would never try to sell a procedure and we would only offer a treatment when we deemed it suitable for the patient.’
The Lister said Dr Nicopoullos’ suggestion of 15-20 eggs as insurance was only an ‘indicator’ of success as ‘every woman is different’. It said it uses a fast-freezing technique which shows better results. A spokesman said: ‘We are committed to ensuring that the people who visit our clinic are given transparent information and responsible medical advice to help them to make informed decisions.’
An HFEA spokesman said: ‘We require clinics to give an accurate prediction of the chance of success from any fertility treatment and we check patient information on inspection.’
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