Private MD News

Researchers make fertility breakthrough

Category: Infertitlity Hormone Testing

Once a woman receives an FSH test indicating she has lost her fertility, it is generally believed that she has little chance of becoming pregnant again naturally. This is because women typically start life with a set number of eggs and once these are gone the body does not produce any more.

However, a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine indicates that it may be possible to use stem cell treatments to get a woman's ovaries to produce viable eggs again, even once she has an age at which she would not be expected to be fertile.

For the study, a team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital injected stem cells that would normally develop into egg-producing cells into the ovaries of adult mice. The mice were past the typical age for egg production. The results showed that these mice were able to grow structures on their ovaries that are necessary for making eggs. Furthermore, the team showed that it was possible for these eggs to be successfully fertilized.

While the findings have yet to be applied to humans, the researchers said that their study could represent a major breakthrough for fertility treatments. The results could be used to develop new therapies that may benefit older women who have received FSH tests indicating they are infertile.