IVF can be an ordeal. Finally, science has a better way

An advance in 'maturing' eggs outside the body could make IVF less burdensome for women.

- Lisa Jarvis

Anyone who has undergone in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) will tell you that the process can be daunting. It involves weeks of mood-altering, bloat-inducing hormone injections to retrieve eggs so they can be fertilised in a laboratory before being implanted.

That is followed by weeks of holding your breath to find out if all the discomfort, anxiety and many thousands of dollars have been worth it.

A cluster of biotechnology firms is reimagining that process, bringing previously fantastical science to a field that has been ignored for too long.

With fertility rates dropping and more women opting to postpone parenthood, the need to make assisted reproductive healthcare more accessible and affordable could not be more urgent.

What better sign of that momentum than a birth announcement?

Gameto, a biotech company working on a less cumbersome IVF process, announced this week the arrival of a child born in Peru from an egg "matured" in a lab (rather than in a woman's body) using its technology.

It is admittedly a small step. Many more babies will need to be born for this new technology to prove itself and be widely embraced. And it will not magically solve everyone's infertility struggles.

Still, a small step towards better options should be embraced - especially considering how many people are not able to access the existing ones.

In 2021, about 2.3 per cent of babies born in the US - more than 86,000 - were conceived through some form of assisted reproductive technology, nearly all of those involving IVF.