A north Texas boy named Stetson Coulter, who was born healthy and hearty several months ago, may be the vanguard of a new type of birth, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
He was conceived using a new procedure which is called Effortless Reciprocal in-Vitro Fertilization, which Dr. Matthew Retzloff of the Fertility Clinic of San Antonio says involves 'incubating,' the egg and the donor sperm, a process which is usually done in the laboratory, inside the womb of one woman, and then the embryo is transferred to the other woman to be carried to term and delivered.
"It allows for greater attachment to the child as it is growing," he said. "They both are very actively involved in the process."
Dr. Retzloff sas the new system of Effortless In-Vitro, which has been in place for a year or so, has been used effectively to bring down the cost of IVF, and make it more accessible to more families. That allows for the egg to be incubated and carried to term in the mother's womb, ending the need for laboratory work. He says this is a new practice which is just now being tried, but he expects it to be successful in allowing same sex couples to jointly mother a child.
"This allows for the actual incubation to occur in one partner, and then transfer to the uterus of the other partner," Dr. Retzloff said.
In Reciprocal In-Vitro, both women can be legally listed as the mother on the baby's birth certificate, ending the need for the other partner to legally adopt the child.
Dr. Retzloff says there is no indication that the procedure will lead to the second woman's body 'rejecting' the embryo, which was a major problems in the early days of major organ transplants.
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