Abnormality fears over sperm injection method
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A revolutionary technique for fertilising a human egg, introduced 10 years ago, might carry a small risk of serious genetic abnormalities for the children of some infertile men, scientists said yesterday.
The technique, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), has helped thousand of men with low sperm counts to become fathers. But one study in Australia has found ICSI was linked with an alarmingly high number of major birth defects – twice that for naturally conceived babies.
The study contradicted a growing body of evidence that there seemed to be few health problems associated with the treatment, said Professor Christina Bergh and her colleague Ulla-Britt Wennerholm of the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden, who have just completed a wide-ranging review of all studies into the technique.
Dr Wennerholm said the low number of ICSI children in the Australian study had called its findings into doubt.
Other studies in Sweden and Belgium had found only slight increases in the risk of malformations. Those could probably be explained by the relatively older age of the parents having ICSI.
But a recent study of 12 men who had a genetic mutation that prevented them from producing sperm indicated ICSI would not only pass on the mutation but also increase the chances of other disorders in the male offspring of boys born through ICSI.
Philippos Patsalis of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics said this would affect only a small proportion of fathers – less than 1 per cent – having ICSI. However, he added, the consequences of such abnormalities in children could be severe.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments