Lesbians who opt for IVF using a partner's egg face greater pregnancy risks, study says

A new study suggests women and trans men who use their female partner’s eggs for in vitro fertilization may face a higher risk of preeclampsia and other pregnancy-related complications.

That’s according to the first systematic review comparing IVF outcomes for people using their own eggs to those for people using a partner’s. This research showed higher live birth rates but a greater risk of complications for those using reciprocal IVF. Reciprocal IVF, or co-IVF, typically involves taking an egg from one partner, fertilizing it with donor sperm, and then implanting it in the other partner. This allows both partners to participate in the pregnancy experience.

The British review was conducted by researchers at King’s College London, Anglia Ruskin University, and the University of Leeds, who looked at outcomes from 9,000 prior studies. Susan Bewley, a co-lead of the study and a professor of obstetrics and women’s health at King’s College London, spoke with The Telegraph about the significance of the research, given that rates of co-IVF have increased dramatically in the U.K.

“It’s important that couples going into the process are aware of potential complications that might happen because the baby is genetically unrelated to the pregnant woman,” said Bewley, who has headed previous studies on inequalities in care for lesbian and bisexual women.

“All women deserve full, unbiased information about the extra risks to mother and baby associated with carrying a donor-egg pregnancy — so they can make their own decisions about whether the risk outweighs the benefit,” she said.

The study findings

Providing context for its findings, the study notes in the introduction that the U.K. saw a seven-fold increase in the use of IVF among same sex couples between 2008 and 2018. And although co-IVF is a relatively new option, it says, the procedure is being used by a growing percentage of same-sex couples.

The study goes on to report that, in reviewing outcomes, researchers determined there may be a greater risk of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes — complications that threaten a pregnancy and can result in lower birth weights — with co-IVF. Comparing pregnancies resulting from co-IVF with those resulting from traditional IVF, the data showed an increased rate of hypertensive disorders (23.8% versus 12.9%) and gestational diabetes (9.5% versus 1.6%).

The reviewed data also showed lower birth weights overall for pregnancies using co-IVF than for those using traditional IVF, whether the cases involved own-egg lesbians, heterosexual couples, or single women. One cited study found the mean weight for co-IVF-produced infants to be 2.809 grams, or 6.19 pounds, compared to 3,072 grams, or 6.77 pounds, for infants resulting from traditional IVF pregnancies.

“These worrying preliminary findings need to be investigated in a much larger-scale study to determine the precise additional risks when women opt to undertake a pregnancy with a donated egg,” Catherine Meads, a researcher on the study and professor of health at Anglia Ruskin University, told The Telegraph.

Elizabeth Choong, an undergraduate medical student at the University of Leeds who worked on the study, echoed her colleague's comments, telling the publication that couples need as much information as possible when weighing healthcare decisions related to family planning.

"Numbers of same-sex female couples choosing co-IVF are increasing, so it is vitally important that the risks they face in undergoing this procedure are clearly explained from the outset,” Choong said.

The study also notes that more than 46% of co-IVF procedures result in live births after 24 weeks or more of gestation, according to the reviewed data, compared to about 41% of traditional IVF procedures.