Twins born after new fertility treatment

The first British babies - boy and girl twins - to be conceived using a new fertility technique have been born at the John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford.

Scientists said in vitro maturation (IVM) is potentially safer, faster and cheaper than standard IVF because it does not require women to use fertility drugs. It could help the 40% per cent of women undergoing treatment who have polycystic ovaries.

During normal IVF, a woman undergoes several weeks of drug injections to stimulate the production of eggs in her ovaries. But the regime can lead to a condition called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome which can result in a build-up of fluid in the lungs, abdomen and other tissues. Very rarely, it can cause death. The syndrome occurs in around 1% of standard IVF cycles, but around 10% of cycles in women with polycystic ovaries.

In IVM, eggs are collected from the ovaries while they are still immature. They are then matured in a laboratory for up to 48 hours before being injected with a single sperm - a process called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). A few days after fertilisation, the embryos are implanted into the mother's womb. Because fewer drugs are used, the cost of each IVM cycle is lower - at £1,700 - than standard IVF which can reach £4,300 per attempt.

The Oxford Fertility Clinic - where the twin's mother was given IVM treatment - was licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to carry out the new treatment in January and is the only centre in the UK to offer it. The twins, born last week, are the first births. The boy, born first, weighed in 6 lbs 11 ozs, and the girl at 5 lbs 14 ozs.

Allan Pacey, a fertility expert at Sheffield University and secretary of the British Fertility Society, welcomed the success but pointed out that it was at an experimental stage. Around 400 babies worldwide have been born using IVM, compared to around 2 million IVF babies.

Dr Pacey said: "You've got to make sure we're not just trading off one set of risks for another: there's a hint of abnormalities in the sex chromosomes, there's a hint of some birth deformities, there's a hint of some cancer risks in the babies - not massive but detectable."

Tim Child, a fertility scientist at Oxford University and consultant gynaecologist at the Oxford Fertility Clinic was confident that the technique was not introducing any extra risks. "The main advantage of IVM is improved safety.

"Women with polycystic ovaries have a one in 10 chance of severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. IVM takes away that risk."

Mr Child said that IVM would initially only be available for women under 37 and for those with polycystic ovaries. So far, his team had achieved five pregnancies after 20 cycles of IVM treatment.

John Paul Maytum, a spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), said that the safety of the IVM technique had been examined by its scientific committee: "No studies on IVM have suggested that the technique is dangerous and there is no evidence of abnormalities in the children born."