“The inseparable right of a woman to become a mother with her own genetic material has become a reality,” the president of the Institute of Life in Athens said. He added: “We are very proud to announce international innovation in the field of assisted reproduction, and now we have the opportunity to make the birth of a child a reality for women with several unsuccessful attempts of artificial insemination”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has long been introducing this very international innovation on the territory of its state. A third world country, as it is often called, is already successfully conducting a unique mitochondrial donation program in local human reproduction centers.
The mitochondrial donation procedure was the next step after donation of eggs and surrogacy. Now, even 40+ years old women have the opportunity to independently carry and give birth to genetically their child. Earlier, many have criticized surrogacy, claiming that it is the exploitation of the female body and the disparagement of honor and dignity of a woman. With mitochondria donation, a barren woman herself carries a baby. The donor only shares healthy mitochondria necessary for successful conception. But even here not everyone is satisfied with the ethical side of the issue.
Thus, some doctors from Britain claim that “the two spheres of application of this method - assistance in conceiving and avoiding transmission of a genetic disease - are very different from a moral point of view”. And therefore, they propose to apply the program only for patients with serious genetic diseases.
Ukraine decided not to dwell only on the genetic cause of childlessness, and successfully uses the method of mitochondrial donation for treatment 40+ women with infertility. Some European doctors believe that this technology may also increase the chances of artificial insemination. Ukrainian embryologists, on the other hand, are already conducting mitochondrial donation for patients who have gone through numerous unsuccessful IVF attempts.
To remind, the first “child from three parents” was born in Mexico. Why did the first such children appear not in New York, for example, but in Mexico City and Kyiv - in countries in which no one expected an innovation headship? The answer is simple: because in Mexico and Ukraine it is not prohibited, as for example, in the USA. That is why a team of American doctors traveled to Mexico to conduct such a program there.
The Greek team of doctors also worked together with the Spanish Embryology Center. The Ukrainian experts did everything themselves. They have all the necessary for this - equipment, legality of conducting programs using modern ART, and, most importantly, highly professional specialists in the field of embryology and gynecology.
Today, the global medical community is more focused on helping women with genetic diseases that can be transmitted to the fetus or affect its development and life. Ukrainian specialists, first of all, use mitochondrial donation in the struggle against infertility and the inability of women to carry a child due to mitochondria damage (low functional activity).
