"it will have become better than sex as a means of reproduction"
yeh right
Thirtysomethings could routinely conceive babies using IVF within a decade because it will have become better than sex as a means of reproduction, scientists have predicted.
According to a new report, advances in IVF technology mean it will be possible to produce embryos with a success rate of virtually 100% and cultivate them in computer-controlled storage facilities.
The advance will ease the pressure on couples who have delayed having children until their late thirties or forties, perhaps to pursue a career.
They may routinely opt for IVF rather than sex to reproduce, giving themselves a greater chance of conceiving through IVF than young adults in peak condition, who have only a one-in-four chance a month of conceiving naturally.
Among over-35s, the chance of natural conception falls to less than one in 10. Modern fertility techniques have meant the healthiest couples already have a 50:50 chance of success using IVF, but the authors of the report, just published in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online, say this is just the beginning.
They point to rapid advances in artificial reproduction for farm animals, which have led to a near-100% success rate in the production of cattle embryos and claim the technology could easily be adapted for humans.
?We are not quite at that stage yet, but it?s where we?re heading,? said John Yovich, a co-author of the report. ?Natural human reproduction is at best a fairly inefficient process.
?Within the next five to 10 years, couples approaching 40 will access the IVF industry first when they want to have a baby.?
Gabor Vajta, an Australian vet and lead author of the report, worked with experts from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology and pointed out that test-tube embryo production in cattle was 100 times more efficient than natural means of calf creation.
Vajta argues that techniques such as intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a single sperm is injected straight into an egg, have already bypassed much of the hit-and-miss results of natural fertilisation.
His report argues that this method can be combined with separate scientific research to develop the ideal nutrient solution in which human embryos should be cultured.
There is no reason, Vajta argues, why artificial human reproduction should not also become 100 times more efficient than the traditional process of ?trying for a baby?.
Gedis Grudzinskas, a Harley Street infertility specialist and editor of Reproductive BioMedicine Online, said: ?It wouldn?t surprise me if IVF does become significantly more efficient than natural reproduction, but I doubt whether you could ever completely guarantee it would work.?
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