IVF Practices Challenged?
This week IVF for the treatment of infertility has been in the spotlight following the BBC Panorama programme on Monday 28th November. The programme looked at “add ons” that some clinics offer. However, in my opinion, it was an example of extremely poor journalism, a misrepresentation of what happens in the majority of IVF units […]
First baby born by mitochondrial donation
In the national news this week we have heard the report of the first baby to be born by this novel technique to prevent the transmission of a devastating illness that would have led to an early death. Listen to Adam discuss this on BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight The family from Jordan were […]
Alex Jones – Fertility & Me
Last week a new TV programme Alex Jones- Fertility & Me was broadcast on BBC1. Watch the programme here I was the consultant medical advisor to the programme, which was a new role for me and one that was both interesting and challenging. I met Alex at the beginning of the year with the producer, […]
ESHRE Conference 2016
View my lecture I have just returned from ESHRE, the annual European meeting that covers all aspects of reproductive science and medicine. There were many interesting presentations and a lot of publicity, although it’s interesting how the press pick up on stories that catch the imagination rather than reflect ground-breaking science. For example, there was […]
Women over 40 having more babies than under 20s
I thought I would share some interesting new data, recently published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), about the number and age of women giving birth in the UK. Here are the facts: Women over 40 are having more babies than the under 20s for in the first time in nearly 70 years. These […]
Building Awareness of Fertility in the UK
After months of planning, on Friday April 15th, 2016 I chaired The Fertility Health Summit: Choice not Chance, a launch event to raise national awareness about the need to improve Sex and Relationship Education for young people. http://[link] The summit was led by the Fertility Health Task Force (FHTF), a group of the UK’s most […]
Launch of National Campaign for Greater Fertility Awareness in the UK
There have been many stories in the press recently about the lack of awareness about fertility and its decline with age. Indeed there have been calls to change the school PHSE curriculum, and introduce ‘Fertility MOT’s’ at 25, to make sure people are aware of the facts, before it’s too late. As a consultant at […]
Greater awareness of fertility is needed
In the last week there have been several articles in the national press about ‘Fertility MOTs‘ for women at the age of 25. The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian and Daily Mail have all published stories which I have contributed to and I am really pleased we have been able to raise awareness about the […]
Couples need support and education not sperm banks
Dr Kevin Smith, from Abertay University in Dundee, says sperm-banking on the NHS should “become the norm” because sperm becomes more prone to errors with age, increasing the risk of autism, schizophrenia and other disorders. He also says that artificial insemination should become the normal way for procreation and that we should have a “whole […]
Putting the Family back into Family Planning
I have just returned from the annual ESHRE (European Society for Human Reproduction & Embryology) meeting in Lisbon, which was attended by more than 10,000 delegates. There was interesting science and I was honored to give a plenary lecture on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which was attended by over 2,000 delegates – the others were […]
