David Levy with his son, Connor, the first baby in the world known to be born with the help of a test that improves the chances for a successful in vitro pregnancy. A Livingtson lab developed the test.
(Alex Remnick/The Star-Ledger)
Here are the stats for Connor Levy at birth: 21.5 inches long, 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and the first baby in the world known to be born with the help of a test that might make it significantly easier for infertile couples to become pregnant.
The test was developed by Reprogenetics, a genetics lab in Livingston, where researchers believe they have found an affordable and reliable method of examining the chromosomes of an embryo, giving doctors a better idea of whether it will survive in the womb.
“This is the last step in what has been an evolution,” said Dagan Wells, who works for Reprogenetics in the United Kingdom.
“One of the major reasons in vitro fertilization treatment ends in failure is that the embryos produced have the wrong number of chromosomes.”
This isn’t a new idea. Santiago Munne, director of Reprogenetics, was discussing the importance of chromosomes nearly 20 years ago.
“We know the major cause of spontaneous abortions is chromosome abnormality,” Munne said.
This new test gives doctors the ability to see which embryos are not viable, which could significantly reduce the risk of miscarriages, Wells said. Research, he said, has shown that this technique improves a mother’s chances of having a baby by about 33 percent.
Marybeth Scheidts, 36, and David Levy, 42, have been together 17 years but had not been able to conceive. The Philadelphia couple was vacationing down the Shore when a friend encouraged them to try in vitro fertilization. When told they fit the criteria for a new test, Scheidts said she thought it was great. The goal, of course was a baby, but if this could reduce the risk of complications, it seemed like a no-brainer. She had seen a friend suffer three miscarriages and was hopeful to avoid that physically and emotionally trying possibility.
Scheidts and Levy had 13 embryos from which to choose. The testing, Levy said, revealed only three of the 13 had the correct chromosomal numbers, and one of those was implanted in Scheidts. Nine months later, a healthy baby boy.
“I was overjoyed and a little emotional because we had been trying so long,” Levy said.
The test itself is relatively simple: Doctors take a bit of tissue from the embryo, usually five days after fertilization when it is about 100 cells. They remove five cells and test them, making sure that the right number of chromosomes are present.
"Almost like a very early prenatal test," Wells said.
Before this, he said, doctors could not be certain which embryo had the best chance of survival. That led doctors to transfer two or three at a time, increasing the risk for twins and triplets, and for complications. By looking at the chromosomes and avoiding those that have little chance, doctors can improve the odds of a viable pregnancy.
“If you’re going to only transfer one, you better be sure it has the best chance of making a baby,” Wells said. “You don’t guarantee a pregnancy, but the chances are higher than without this screening.”
Parents cannot select traits such as blond hair or blue eyes. The number of genetic sequences needed to make up any pairing of physical traits are far too great to choose from the small number of fertilized embryos.
Similar tests have been performed in the past but were expensive and could not examine the embryo with the same rigor.
“What the new method adds is the ability to do this at much lower cost than previous techniques,” Wells said. “There are more subtle defects that are equally lethal to the embryo. The new method will allow us to do this and thus reveal the IVF embryos able to produce a baby with much greater certainty than any previous method.”