Report: In vitro procedure produces hermaphrodite

Male and female embryos fused to form a hermaphrodite

January 14, 1998
Web posted at: 9:38 p.m. EST (0238 GMT)

From Medical Correspondent Rhonda Rowland

BOSTON (CNN) -- In the almost 20 years since Louise Brown became the world's first test-tube baby, more than 100,000 children have been born as the result of in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

But now researchers from Scotland are reporting, in the New England Journal of Medicine, a mistake due to an error in the IVF process -- the first known case of a true hermaphrodite resulting from IVF.

A true hermaphrodite is an individual who has a combination of genetic material that is both female and male. The condition is extremely rare, found in nature in about one in every 25,000 deliveries, according to Dr. Dorothy Mitchell-Leef of Reproductive Biology Associates.

The condition is not life-threatening and can be surgically corrected, although the individual affected will have fertility problems.

CNN's Rhonda Rowland reports.

Experts say couples considering IVF should not be unduly alarmed by this most recent finding, as this is the first documented case of a hermaphrodite in the nearly 20 years the technology has been in use.

For example, reproductive specialist Dr. Mark Perloe of the Atlanta Reproductive Health Centre says it is unlikely this report will prompt him to change the way he counsels couples considering IVF.

"We make them aware of the risk of passing on certain male fertility factors, in some cases, that may increase fertility problems in the offspring," he says.

Indeed, in the nearly two decades since Louise Brown's miracle birth, there have been no reports that IVF increases the odds of birth defects or other abnormalities.

Related sites:

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• New England Journal of Medicine
• Reproductive Biology Associates
• Atlanta Reproductive Health Centre

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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