Fertility clinics push back
By Alison Motluk,
HeyReprotech Newsletter
| 04. 21. 2020
Advisory bodies generally agree that now is not the time for full-on fertility treatment. Some prominent clinics beg to differ.
Several of the fertility world's top advisory bodies have strongly urged fertility clinics to stop or severely scale back services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) last week reaffirmed that fertility doctors, like other medical professionals, have a "duty" to not make this crisis worse and so should not be providing non-urgent services. Only people facing cancer treatment should be exceptions, they advised.
They underscored the reasons for their decision: to avoid any coronavirus-related pregnancy complications, to mitigate the unknown risks of parent-to-child transmission, to keep medical resources on the front lines and to follow the rules on physical distancing.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) first issued guidelines about COVID-19 on March 17 and have since provided two updates. In the most recent, on April 14, they advised that "it is not yet prudent to resume non-emergency infertility procedures." They said that clinics should avoid starting new treatment cycles, cancel all transfers, suspend non-urgent procedures and minimize in-person interactions. The Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) has been advocating...
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