NBC News
A team that monitored the functioning of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States was abruptly eliminated on Tuesday as part of the mass layoffs in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, in English).
The elimination of the assisted reproduction technology surveillance equipment of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – a group of six epidemiologists, data analysts and researchers – shocked public health experts and the defenders of the IVF, who said they had felt encouraged by the president’s comments, Donald Trump, in support of the access to the treatment of infertility.
Last week, Trump declared “the president of fertilization” while promoting efforts to expand IVF.
“Fertilization,” Trump said in an act at the White House on March 26 to commemorate the month of the history of women. “I’m still very proud of it, I don’t care. I will be known as the president of fertilization and that’s fine.”
But Barbara Colllura, president and executive director of Resolve: The National Vetility Association, a non -profit group for reproductive health, said that one of Trump’s best tools to address the IVFI no longer existed.
“This is a great disadvantage for administration to the same extent that they support IVF and want to expand their coverage,” said Colllura. “These are the people you must have by your side”.
Aaron Levine, a public policy professor at Georgia Tech who has worked with the CDC team during the last decade, described it as an “immediate loss” for patients who want to make a successful decision based on good information.
“The data were generated at the clinic level every year, so it could be said: ‘Does this clinic succeed 15%, 20% or 25% of the time?'” He said. “They can imagine that it is very valuable information for patients who are considering IVF, or perhaps considering IVF in several clinics, and trying to make their decisions.”
Dr. Brian Levine, founding partner and director of the CCRM Fertility Clinic in New York, declared that approximately one in 6 people experience infertility both worldwide and in the United States.
The IVF It was first used in the 1970s. It consists of combining ovules and sperm in the laboratory to create embryos. These embryos are then implanted in the woman’s uterus.
IVF is the most common type of infertility treatment in the United States, according to CDC. More than 8 million babies have been born through IVF since 1978, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The success rate varies, the age being the most determining factor. Women under 35 are successful of around 46 %, according to the Cleveland Clinic. That is reduced to 22 % for 38 -year -old women.
Patients deserve to know the success rates of each clinic, and the elimination of the CDC group takes away a resource, explained Brian Levine.
“Patients are very motivated for treatments because they want a family, but also They enter a state of despair sometimes“He said.
Knowing success rates also helps clinics yield, forcing them to make changes that could help improve the quality of care.
“When you have a generalized disease like this, that causes a lot of anguish to women,” said Brian Levine, referring to infertility. “We usually inform the CDC, so I know that my colleagues from all over the country are working with the same standards.”
A “tremendous resource”
The assisted reproduction technology surveillance team was created by Congress in 1992. It worked under the reproductive health division of the CDC, which was also destroyed on Tuesday.
The team was responsible for supervising and monitoring the results related to IVF, including whether women gave birth to multiple or if they gave birth prematurely, to guarantee both the security and success of the procedure.
Also provided tools to the public, such as a “IVF Success Estimator” that allowed people to introduce information about themselves and obtain an estimate of how well the IVF would work. People could also consult the success rates of each clinic in the United States.
He also investigated on different issues related to IVF, including how to make it more efficient with less side effects and how to make this extremely expensive procedure more accessible.
“They are a tremendous appeal within the government”Collura declared. “They are also publicly oriented. All content is on the Internet site of the CDC; they publish all the information for patients.”
“I trust your information and your data to do my job,” he added. “I’m not sure how that will be in the future.”
A CDC worker who was fired on Tuesday tried to reconcile Trump’s comments on IVF and mass layoffs.
The worker, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak with the media, said that the group was preparing to publish new data on the successful FIV rates in all states, but now that work has stopped indefinitely.
“It surprises me,” he said. “President Trump said he was the president of fertility. How the cut of this program supports that statement?“
An official of the Department of Health and Human Services said that “the work will continue”, although he did not provide details about how or when the administration will continue to track and collect data on the IVF.
“We are focused on implementing and making the high -level vision of Secretary Kennedy come true on the transformation of HHS,” said the official in a statement sent by email. “The department is drawing at the level of details what each of the 15 redefined divisions will be and will share more information soon.”
Aaron Levine, from Georgia Tech, said there are other groups that monitor the results of the IVF, such as the Society for Assisted Technology, a professional group, although the data seems to be more limited.
In a statement, Micah Hill, president of the Assisted Reproduction Technology Society, described the cuts to the IVF group as “Dangerous and devastating”.
“It will be difficult to replace the great experience of CDC staff,” said Hill. “In many ways, the American public health system has been world leader, and now we run the danger of wasting it and do it in a way from which it can be very difficult to recover.”
