To Book an Appointment

Have You Heard of Three Parent In-Vitro Fertilization?

By Medical Expert Team

May 11 , 2017 | 1 min read

It is a hope for intended couples to have a genetically healthy baby. The three-parent IVF is an advanced technology in which the baby’s mitochondrial DNA comes from a third party (Donor Egg). So, the treatment results in human offspring with three genetic parents called as a three-parent baby.

The procedure is not currently approved for general use in any country. It has been legalised in the United Kingdom, (2015) only. More research is needed into a controversial fertility treatment, known as three-parent IVF, before it can be considered safe for clinical use and it is going to be a new ray of hope for Intended parents.

How are the embryos made in TPIVF?

Dr. Rashmi Sharma, Consultant in Max Multi-Specialty Centre, Pitampura says that in an IVF for embryo formation we require eggs of mother and semen of father. In case, the mother is infertile we used donor eggs, where all the genes are either donor and intended father that is two parent DNA, the intended mother's DNA is not in future baby.

Whereas in process of Three-Parent In Vitro Fertilization (TPIVF), the nucleus of one egg (intended Mother) is inserted into the cytoplasm of another egg (donors Egg) which has had its nucleus removed but still contains mitochondrial DNA, and then fertilising the hybrid egg with a sperm (Intended father).

The purpose of the procedure is to remove the nucleus from a cell with defective mitochondria and place it in a donor cell with healthy mitochondria, which after fertilisation contains a nucleus with genetic material only from two parents. So it is also called as mitochondria donation.

“It as a specialized form of IVF in which the future baby's mitochondrial DNA comes from a third party (Donor egg).”

What are the advantages of this procedure?

1. The procedure is intended to prevent mitochondrial diseases including diabetes mellitus and deafness and some heart and liver conditions of the future baby.

2. Three-person IVF may prevent inherited disease too: This method will enable couples to have healthy children and eliminate the disease for subsequent generations, but the technique is controversial because mitochondria carry their own genetic material (DNA). Although this material is very small and only carries a few genes, the resulting child will have this genetic material from the donor too, in addition to the majority of maternally- and paternally-inherited genes present, in the nucleus of the cell. The procedure can be a subject of considerable controversy in the field of bioethics.