WATCH ABOVE: For four years, a Toronto couple tried and failed to have a child. But a groundbreaking new procedure eventually led to the birth of their first child – who’s literally one of a kind.
TORONTO – A Canadian woman is the first mother to give birth after undergoing a new procedure that boosts the health of women’s eggs to improve the success rate of in-vitro fertilization.
Natasha Rajani, 34, of Toronto gave birth to son Zain about three weeks ago.
She underwent the AUGMENT treatment, which increases the ability of a woman’s eggs to be fertilized and produce viable embryos.
Fertility expert Dr. Robert Casper of Mount Sinai Hospital says Rajani is the first of several Toronto women to have the egg-enhancing treatment.
The others are expected to give birth in the coming weeks and months. One woman is expecting twins.
Casper believes the treatment developed by U.S.-based OvaScience will be a fertility game-changer by allowing more women to conceive through IVF and give birth to healthy babies.
The treatment uses energy-producing mitochondria from a woman’s own egg precursor cells found in the lining of the ovaries to supplement existing mitochondria in her mature eggs.
Mitochondria convert nutrients into energy and are known as the powerhouses of every cell.
WATCH: The Ontario government has once again promised to help fund IVF treatments. They say in the long term it will save money, and protect patients. Christina Stevens reports.
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