Mother donates eggs so daughter can give birth
Thursday, 5 July 2007
MONTREAL, July 4 (AFP): In a medical first, a Canadian mother has frozen some of her eggs so her seven-year-old daughter can give birth should the genetic disorder she suffers from makes her infertile as an adult, a physician said Tuesday.
If Flavie Boivin should become infertile, her mother's eggs could make it possible for her to give birth nonetheless, to a child who would be not only her offspring, but also her half-sister or half- brother.
"It's the first time in the world" for such a procedure, said Seang Lin Tan, professor and chairman of obstretics and gynecology at McGill University and medical director of the McGill reproductive centre.
The doctor said McGill University Health Center's ethics committee has given its authorization for the extraction of Melanie Boivin's eggs, which will be kept frozen for years to come.
Tan said the procedure has been used for cancer patients at risk of menopause when they undergo chemotherapy.
"We know that this technique works," he told AFP. "We find that 85 percent of the eggs survive freezing and then there is 40 percent chance of a live birth."
Melanie Boivin, a 35-year-old lawyer from Montreal, is the mother of three children, including Flavie, who was born with a genetic disorder called Turner syndrome, which can lead to premature menaupause and infertily, Tan said.
"I was touched by her case because, in her own words, 'a mother should always do her best to help her children.' If her daughter had a kidney problem and she had to give a kidney, she would have done it too."
If Flavie Boivin should become infertile, her mother's eggs could make it possible for her to give birth nonetheless, to a child who would be not only her offspring, but also her half-sister or half- brother.
"It's the first time in the world" for such a procedure, said Seang Lin Tan, professor and chairman of obstretics and gynecology at McGill University and medical director of the McGill reproductive centre.
The doctor said McGill University Health Center's ethics committee has given its authorization for the extraction of Melanie Boivin's eggs, which will be kept frozen for years to come.
Tan said the procedure has been used for cancer patients at risk of menopause when they undergo chemotherapy.
"We know that this technique works," he told AFP. "We find that 85 percent of the eggs survive freezing and then there is 40 percent chance of a live birth."
Melanie Boivin, a 35-year-old lawyer from Montreal, is the mother of three children, including Flavie, who was born with a genetic disorder called Turner syndrome, which can lead to premature menaupause and infertily, Tan said.
"I was touched by her case because, in her own words, 'a mother should always do her best to help her children.' If her daughter had a kidney problem and she had to give a kidney, she would have done it too."