Womb fertilisation in new IVF technique

WOULD-BE parents are being offered a new form of IVF which allows fertilisation to take place inside the womb, instead of in a laboratory.

It is hoped the new technique, being used for the first time in the UK in Southampton, Hampshire, will not only be a psychological boost to parents but also have health benefits by potentially improving the birth weight of IVF babies.

The technique, which uses a device called AneVivo, involves placing egg and sperm cells within a tiny capsule, which is placed painlessly into the womb for 24 hours, during which time embryos begin to develop.

Doctors then remove the device, which is around 1cm long and 1mm wide and, after two to four days, select the babies that are healthy enough to be implanted back into the lining of the womb, in the hope of achieving a pregnancy.

Professor Nick Macklon, medical director at Complete Fertility Centre Southampton, said: “The introduction of this device signals a real breakthrough in IVF treatment as it enables women to care for an embryo in its earliest stages of development for the first time. That is important psychologically, as it involves parents-to-be directly with the fertilisation process and early embryo development but, perhaps more importantly, it also could provide many potential health benefits for babies born following treatment.”