I wasn't alone when I breathed a sigh of relief when Elizabeth Carr, the U.S,'s first IVF (otherwise called test-tube baby at the itme) offpsring had a baby of her own last year. Conceived naturally, it was a good sign for the relatively new science. Fact is, we don't really know the long term consequences of PGD and IVF and a host of other invasive techniques. But we're pretty sure they're safe - and more than that, we know they work a lot of the time.
But in the back of the industry's (and parents') collective minds is the question - are the kids going to be ok?
Until now, we haven't had a systematic way to find out. But now I am thrilled to see the launch of the IFRR (Infertility Family Research Registry). http://www.ifrr-registry.org/index.html
The registry consists of a growing pool of volunteers interested in helping to improve understanding of the health of people and families that have faced a diagnosis of infertility or dealt with infertility treatments. The registry provides a bridge between these individuals and experienced researchers.
The big guns are behind it -
SART (Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology), ASRM (American Society for Reproductive Medicine), a division of NIH (National Institute of Health), Dartmouth Medical College, and a few patient support organizations as well.
The funding is impressive, too - the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Foundation and National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
But now comes your part - they need your help to be a part of the registry - anonymously of course.
To be part of the Infertility Family Research Registry, volunteers can be:
Women or men.
Anyone building a family, regardless of where you are in the family building process.
People who have had, or are having, difficulty conceiving a pregnancy or carrying a pregnancy to live birth.
People who had no difficulty getting pregnant, to serve as study controls or comparison subjects.
People who have undergone fertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Egg donors and sperm donors.
Gestational carriers / Surrogates.
