‘In Vitro’ Birth Hailed, Offers Hope

A baby was born this week at Hoag Hospital after what is believed to be the first implant of a frozen, fertilized egg in a woman’s Fallopian tubes in the United States, officials said Wednesday.

The baby, a healthy 8-pound, 3-ounce girl, was born Monday, said Dr. Lawrence B. Werlin, director of fertility services at Hoag. The mother, a Mission Viejo resident who has not been identified, also is doing well, added Werlin, who implanted an embryo that was taken from the woman’s sister.

Werlin said the significance of this pregnancy and birth is that in vitro fertilization may now have a higher success rate. In vitro fertilization involves having a woman’s egg fertilized by a man’s sperm in a laboratory dish. In some cases, the fertilized eggs are frozen for later use.

“Right now most frozen embryos are transferred to the uterine cavity” with a success in 10% to 20% of the cases, Werlin said. Because the Fallopian tube is considered a “more conducive environment for fertilization,” he said this procedure “offers us a new alternative in women who have normal Fallopian tubes. . . . We’re hoping this procedure will have a higher success rate.”

Using this same method, Werlin said he and his staff already have assisted a second previously infertile Orange County woman in achieving pregnancy. That woman, who also has not been identified, is scheduled to deliver at Hoag within six to eight weeks, he said.

The mother of the in vitro child born Monday is 37 and had premature ovarian failure--inability to produce eggs. Her unmarried 27-year-old sister agreed to provide eggs for an in vitro attempt, and they were fertilized in February from sperm from the older sister’s 41-year-old husband.

Werlin initially transferred unfrozen fertilized eggs directly to the older sister’s womb. That attempt did not result in pregnancy. About a month later, using frozen fertilized eggs, Werlin tried again, this time placing the thawed eggs in the woman’s Fallopian tubes.