A breakthrough in fertility has been achieved recently in Israel, with the birth of twins from two different fathers, from eggs donated from another mother. The successful birth came the end of a complex fertilization process carried out by Dr. Ilya Bar of the Fertility Medical Center.
The fertilization was carried out simultaneously and separately in two different groups of eggs, with each being fertilized by another father’s sperm.
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The resulting embryos developed in the lab for five days, the maximum time in which a fetus can develop in a laboratory outside the womb. Close to the end of this period, the quality of the embryos was examined. The best embryo with the highest chance of successful pregnancy and birth was chosen from each of the groups. Those two embryos were returned to the uterus and both were integrated successfully.
According to Dr. Bar, “this special treatment required a 200 percent success rate, because each fertilization had to succeed by 100 percent.”
Dr. Bar explained that “in neither case did not want to implant more than two embryos, to avoid a multiple fetal pregnancy, which is not recommended under any circumstances. In our initial conversation, both prospective parents expressed their desire to carry a combined pregnancy from the two fathers, so we worked to get them their wish, and I’m pleased that we managed after their very first treatment here.”
The three parents came to the Fertility Medical Center after several attempts at treatment that had ended in disappointment. Dr. Bar explained that the secret to success is making extensive testing of each of the parties involved, a full month ahead of the first treatment.
The tests examined the reproductive status of each of the four parents involved, including the genetics of the two fathers’ sperm, the mother’s eggs, and the absorption capacity for the pregnancy in the uterus.
“At the end of the month of testing we decided on a treatment and only then went to work, ” Dr. Bar concluded, noting that this strategy is different from the trial and error method common to most fertility treatment centers, which “involves failures and many bitter disappointments.”
