CV NEWS FEED // Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming the future of in-vitro fertilization, doctors and specialists say.
AIVF, an Israel-based reproductive technology company, has created an advanced embryo evaluation platform, EMA, that simplifies embryo selection by using AI to process massive volumes of data.
The technology allows doctors to scan embryos for factors such as potential for successful implantation, gender, and even health issues.
Success rates for traditional IVF rest at approximately 23% to 25% for women of all ages, with 1 in 5 cases resulting in successful pregnancy.
With AI-enabled technology, those odds will likely increase.
According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, each IVF session costs more than $12,000 and does not guarantee a pregnancy. Most women undergo several attempts to get pregnant from the treatment. With the increased likelihood of successful implantation guaranteed by AI, the cost of IVF could go down.
Studies from the World Health Organization (WHO), found 1 in 6 people experience infertility issues globally. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this rate increases to 1 in 5 for people in the United States.
Further studies also found that married couples who undergo failed IVF treatments are three times more likely to end up divorced than those whose procedures were successful.
Data surrounding AI-assisted IVF certainly reveals higher success rates than the traditional IVF these couples went through, with studies saying “[AI] software outperformed 15 embryologists from five different centers across the United States in detecting which embryos were most likely to implant out of a group of high-quality embryos with few visible differences.”
Embryologist Daniella Gilboa told Fox News, “IVF is one of the most important medical developments in the last 50 years, but it’s not good enough.”
The success rates of traditional IVF are unpredictable and expensive; yet, reports of women who freeze their eggs continue to increase every year—especially for women approaching their late thirties.
“More women are freezing their eggs so they can delay childbirth and focus on their careers,” Gilboa said, “which means demand for IVF is growing–but supply is limited.”
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine said the number of healthy women who froze their eggs rose to 12,438 in 2020, from 7,193 in 2016.
The Catholic Church’s official stance on IVF may be found in the 1987 document, Donum Vitae, issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.
“The connection between in vitro fertilization and the voluntary destruction of human embryos occurs too often,” the document says. “This is significant: through these procedures, with apparently contrary purposes, life and death are subjected to the decision of man, who thus sets himself up as the giver of life and death by decree.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offers guidance on IVF as well. Referring back to Donum Vitae, the USCCB notes how IVF transforms children into commodities, asserting that “inherent in IVF is the treatment of children, in their very coming into being, as less than human beings.”
CatholicVote has compiled a list of resources for those who would like to learn more about the Church’s teachings on IVF and infertility.
