This from the Kaiser Health Network:
Asian, Black Women Have Lower IVF Success Rates Than White, Hispanic Women, Studies Say
[Oct 20, 2004]
Asian and black women who undergo in vitro fertilization have lower rates of success than white or Hispanic women, according to two studies presented on Monday at the annual American Society for Reproductive Medicine convention in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Dr. David Grainger, an infertility specialist at the University of Kansas-Wichita, and colleagues analyzed IVF clinic records between 1999 and 2000 for more than 75,000 patients whose race and Hispanic origin were reported (McCullough, Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/19). The average live birth rate among all women who underwent IVF using eggs that had not been previously frozen was 25.7%. However, black and Asian women had lower birthrates -- 18.7% and 20.7%, respectively -- than white and Hispanic women -- 26.3% and 26.7%, respectively, Reuters Health reports. In addition, black women had the highest rate of miscarriage -- 22% -- compared with 13.9% for white women, 16.4% for Hispanic women and 16.2% for Asian women. The reason for lower success rates for Asian women is unclear because Asian women do not have high smoking or overweight rates, according to Reuters Health. However, the researchers speculated that the increased rate of overweight and fibroid and uterine disease among black women might contribute to lower IVF success rates among black women, according to Reuters Health (Kerr, Reuters Health, 10/18).
Second Study
In a second study, researchers at the University of California-San Francisco who analyzed 1,200 IVF attempts at their own clinic, 27% of which were among Asian patients, found that Asian women had lower pregnancy rates than non-Asians whether the implanted embryos were fresh or frozen, the Inquirer reports. "Being 35 and Asian was equivalent to being 40 and white," UCSF researcher Karen Purcell said, adding that they did not know why this was true (Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/19).
And there are even more articles:
Standford University resarch - Reuters article
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists article
Several different studies show that Asians have a lower rate of success with IVF. Being of Asian descent, this is a real concern. Not only do I have to worry about my impending AMA, but on top of that I also have to deal with my race placing me at disadvantage compared to others. What else could be next?
2 comments:
Hey girl, don't even let that stuff get into your head. Being a person who plans on having a career in teaching and research for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, it will be my job to do this kind of research and write these kinds of articles. That's part of what I'm doing right now for my dissertation research, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of the information that is gained from biological research and public health. However, I draw the line at applying all those stats to myself. I know it may seem hypocritical, but I've always been of the belief that it's good to have as much information as possible without having to apply all of that info to myself - especially the negative ones. There are so many negative stats out there that you can really drive yourself crazy. So, try to think of yourself as an outlier (falling outside of the "normal" ranges), and keep telling yourself that you're going to beat those odds. Because you are. :)
i'm not even going to read these articles, bc i'll get even more paranoid. after my ivf, and seeing/hearing what you and BabyOnMind went through, i told my husband that there MUST be some correlation between asian girls and lower ivf's. i mean, seriously. all 3 of us had lots of immature eggs and all got bfn's. isn't ivf's success rate 60%?? how did the 3 of us go 0/3???
let's try to put this out of our minds, and how about a *new theory*. asians have less successful 1st ivf's bc we're not like "the average girl", but we'll all kick 2nd ivf in the bootay.
ya like? me like :o)
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