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There has been a dramatic rise in the number of women freezing their eggs in the UK, while more single people are now opting for IVF, new figures show. A report from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) found that more people than ever before are undergoing procedures, with egg and embryo freezing now the fastest growing fertility treatments in the UK. Egg freezing and storage increased from 2,576 cycles in 2019 to 4,215 in 2021 (a 64% rise), while embryo storage also rose. Some experts have said the Covid-19 pandemic had a big impact on the numbers of women wanting to freeze their eggs in the hope of preserving their fertility. Restrictions on socialising may have prompted some women to think more about their fertile window, and decide to try to increase their reproductive choices Sarah Norcross, Progress Educational Trust Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust, said of the latest data: “The dramatic rise in the number of egg freezing cycles could be linked to the pandemic. “Restrictions on socialising may have prompted some women to think more about their fertile window, and decide to try to increase their reproductive choices.” The HFEA data also shows there was a 10% rise in IVF and donor insemination cycles between 2019 and 2021 (around 7,000 more cycles). Meanwhile, the average age at which women have fertility treatment with IVF has risen – to 36. This compares to an average age of almost 31 for women who conceive naturally. The regulator’s report shows that patients in heterosexual relationships accounted for around 90% of all IVF patients in 2021. Meanwhile, the number of IVF patients in female same-sex relationships increased from 1,649 in 2019 to 2,201 in 2021 (a 33% rise) and single parents rose from 2,001 in 2019 to 2,888 in 2021 (a 44% rise). This means that single patients and patients in female same-sex relationships had the biggest increase in IVF use from 2019 to 2021. When it comes to success in getting pregnant using own eggs, the average overall IVF pregnancy rate using fresh embryos increased from 10% per embryo transferred in 1991 to 29% in 2021. Patients aged 18 to 34 had the highest pregnancy rate per embryo transferred at 41% in 2021. Meanwhile, pregnancy rates per embryo transferred increased from 8% in 1991 to 33% for patients aged 35 to 37, and was 25% for patients aged 38 to 39 in 2021. For patients aged 40 to 42, the pregnancy rate per embryo transferred increased from 6% in 1991 to 16% in 2021. Our report shows that the average age of IVF patients has increased to 36, around five years older than mothers who get pregnant naturally and these aftershocks could mean that the average age of an IVF patient continues to rise Julia Chain, HFEA For patients aged 43 to 50, the pregnancy rate per embryo transferred increased from 1% in 1991 to 6% in 2021. Live birth rates per embryo transferred have increased from 7% in 1991 to 25% in 2021 for patients aged 35 to 37 and from 6% in 1991 to 17% in 2021 for patients aged 38 to 39. For those aged 40 to 42, the live birth rate per embryo stands at 10%, but plummets for women aged 43 and over. Meanwhile, the average IVF pregnancy rate using frozen embryo transfers has increased from around 7% in the 1990s to 36% in 2021. The average IVF birth rate using frozen embryo transfers also increased from around 6% in the 1990s to 27% in 2021. Julia Chain, chairwoman of the HFEA, said: “Overall, the new HFEA report paints a promising picture. It shows treatment numbers are back at pre-pandemic levels and thanks to improved clinical and laboratory practice, over time pregnancy rates are increasing. “Despite the pandemic being declared officially over, the aftershocks are still being felt as delays across other areas of healthcare prevent some patients accessing fertility services. “Our report shows that the average age of IVF patients has increased to 36, around five years older than mothers who get pregnant naturally and these aftershocks could mean that the average age of an IVF patient continues to rise. “Although pregnancy rates have increased, the likelihood of success decreases with age. “For some patients, this may mean they never get the baby they hoped for and that’s heartbreaking.” More patients than ever before are paying privately for IVF. The number of IVF cycles funded by the NHS continued to vary across the UK with an overall 16% decrease to 20,000 cycles in 2021 from around 24,000 in 2019.

Surgeons worked all day and into the night to ensure Britain’s first womb transplant went smoothly. Its success is down to meticulous research, years of sharing knowledge between experts around the globe, and the hard work and dedication of doctors Professor Richard Smith, from Imperial College London, and Isabel Quiroga, from the Oxford Transplant Centre. Around 50 babies have been born worldwide as a result of womb transplants, which give women missing a functioning uterus a chance to have a baby. In the first UK case, the operation to remove the womb from the recipient’s 40-year-old sister lasted eight hours and 12 minutes, with surgeons leaving her ovaries behind to prevent pushing her into early menopause. One hour earlier, surgeons began operating on the 34-year-old recipient, preparing her body to receive the donated organ. This operation lasted nine hours and 20 minutes, with the surgical team experiencing some difficulties including a higher-than-expected blood loss of two litres. However, after just 10 days, the recipient was well enough to leave the hospital and has continued to have a good recovery. She is also having regular periods, which shows the womb is working well. Her sister was discharged five days after her donor operation and has also made a good recovery. Removing a womb is a similar operation to a radical hysterectomy, according to Prof Smith, who as well as being a gynaecological surgeon is the clinical lead at the charity Womb Transplant UK. He and Miss Quiroga led the team of more than 30 staff who worked on the transplant one Sunday in February. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga removed the older sister’s womb, cervix and fallopian tubes, plus crucial blood vessels around the organ. The main vessels are the uterine arteries running into the womb, but the surgeons also aimed to collect some of the larger internal vessels that lead into the smaller branch of the womb. Prof Smith said surgeons doing these operations have to retrieve veins involved in the drainage of the womb. “One of the amazing things is that my surgical skill-mix as a cancer surgeon is to remove organs with a margin of normal tissue, while sealing the vessels as I go,” he said. “Transplant surgical skills are different – that is to remove a normal organ with the best number of non-sealed vessels as you can. “Isabel and I operate together with no ego – it just flows backwards and forwards across the table.” He added: “The day itself was truly humbling. We turned up at 7am at the Churchill transplant centre with the donor and the recipient families, then we went into a pre-op huddle. Those in the huddle included surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists and technicians. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga worked to remove the womb, before the organ was prepared for transplantation by a “back table” team. “This was an organ which had a very, very unusual blood supply,” Prof Smith said. “In fact, it had a set of blood vessels which I’ve never seen in my entire career. They made my dissection a bit harder than it might have been, but we got there.” In the theatre next door, one hour before the retrieval of the womb was completed, surgeons began to operate on the donor’s younger sister to enable her to receive the womb. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga switched from donor to recipient and Prof Smith removed the vestiges of the underdeveloped womb the recipient was born with. Meanwhile, the organ was packed and transported between the two theatres under sterile conditions to prevent contamination. A sterile bag with a cold perfusion solution contained the womb, which was then placed into a container with ice. During surgery, ligaments attached to the womb were attached to the recipient to help the womb stay in a relatively fixed place so it does not move around the pelvis. The most important part of the transplant operation was the joining of the very small vessels that give the blood supply to the womb. This was the most delicate and difficult part of the operation and was led by Miss Quiroga. Once all the vessels were connected, the donor’s vaginal cuff – around a 1cm part – was stitched into her sister’s vagina. If and when the recipient is able to complete her family, the womb will be removed six months later to prevent her from needing immunosuppressants for the rest of her life. Prof Smith said: “We know that the chance of failure at the point where the uterus goes in – if you look at the world literature – is 20 per cent to 25 per cent. And that failure is usually on the basis on sepsis and thrombosis. So technically, we are up to the job, but what happens thereafter can be scary. “Once you get to three or four days later, the chance of failure drops to probably less than 10 per cent. “Once you get to two weeks – and at the point where the woman has a period – the chance of her having a baby at that point is very high and the chance of failure has dropped to low. But those first two weeks – it’s very scary as a surgeon to watch and wait.” Biopsies to check the womb was functioning were read in London but then also confirmed by an expert team in the US at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, where other womb transplants have been performed. Prof Smith said the procedure gives new hope to women born with devastating conditions. He said: “You’ve got girls, maybe 14, who have not had periods, they go to the GP and a scan shows there is no uterus. Absolute catastrophe. “Up until now, there’s been no solution for that, other than adoption or surrogacy... That’s not the case now. It’s really exciting.” On whether transgender women may also benefit from the operation, Prof Smith said that was still a long way off. He said the pelvic anatomy, vascular anatomy and shape of the pelvis are different, and there are microbiome issues to overcome. “My own sense is if there are transgender transplants that are going to take place, they are many years off. There are an awful lot of steps to go through. My suspicion is a minimum of 10 to 20 years.” Miss Quiroga said the living donor programme to date in the UK has focused on women with relatives who are willing to give their wombs. “It will come to a point where we will have friends or altruistic donors, like we have with many other transplants, but at the moment we’re only focused on people who have come forward with relatives,” she said. Read More Bursts of activity that make you huff and puff ‘linked to reduced cancer risk’ Fiona Phillips, 62, reveals she has Alzheimer’s disease Woman has all her teeth removed after rare vomiting condition causes them to fall out Bursts of activity that make you huff and puff ‘linked to reduced cancer risk’ Fiona Phillips, 62, reveals she has Alzheimer’s disease Woman has all her teeth removed after rare vomiting condition causes them to fall out

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 26, 2023--

‘SPF cocktailing’ is the latest beauty trend to make waves on TikTok. It’s all about mixing your favourite SPF with another product – such as concealer or highlighter – and applying that as a ‘cocktail’ onto skin. In theory, the idea sounds good – the aim is to reduce the white cast some SPFs leave, and mean less steps slathering products onto your skin in the morning – but dermatologists and skin experts have started pointing out the potential dangers of this new trend. “SPF cocktailing is a recipe for disaster in so many ways,” says Dr Ross Perry, medical director of Cosmedics skin clinics. “By mixing SPF with products such as concealer or highlighter you are leaving the skin entirely exposed to the dangerous UV rays, which will very likely burn the skin and potentially lead to skin cancer down the line, not to mention leaving you more prone to premature ageing.” Dr Paris Acharya, leading aesthetic doctor and face surgeon agrees, saying: “When you mix an SPF with your other make-up products, such as foundation or concealer, you are changing the overall properties of the SPF and diluting the strength of the product. “This will therefore reduce the protection that you will be getting from the SPF. There may also be certain products within your make-up products that may interfere with the way that your SPF is meant to work.” However, Perry understands why people might be looking for ways to make their SPF look better. “Sunscreens are notoriously cosmetically unattractive purely in part to the ingredients. The reason for this is that’s how they prevent the sun’s rays penetrating into the skin. The suncream companies already try to dilute this down as much as possible in order to make it cosmetically acceptable, however I appreciate in some instances this does not quite go far enough.” So for Perry, it is a “balance between having someone wearing something that will protect your skin, versus not wearing it”. He adds: “I don’t advocate mixing the ingredients together, as it may reduce efficacy. I do believe though that if this is the only way people will wear sunscreen, then some sunblock is absolutely better than no sunblock.” But make no mistake: the best option is wearing SPF that hasn’t been mixed with any other products. “It only takes one sunburn in a lifetime to lead to skin cancer. [Skipping sunscreen] isn’t something you should be doing at all, and in no way should be encouraged,” says Perry. If you do want to reduce the white cast of sunscreen, Perry’s advice is to “apply a good moisturising cream prior to using a sunscreen – this will help the sunscreen absorb into the skin and reduce the tint”. While Perry doesn’t recommend mixing your products together, he does suggest that layering is fine: “If you apply them all separately and give them a chance to absorb first.” Acharya has some other recommendations for best practice when it comes to sunscreen. “My ultimate top tip is to always use a broad spectrum SPF. Broad spectrum protects you from both UVA and UVB rays which helps the skin to stay youthful and will help to reduce premature ageing and sunspots,” she advises. “Another important tip for using an SPF is to always apply it to the face and neck to ensure full coverage and protection of all exposed areas. The skin on your face and neck is some of the first to age on your body so it’s vital that we care for these areas properly.” Acharya recommends an SPF30 or above for your face, and adds: “It is always recommended to reapply your SPF throughout the day at least twice to maintain maximum protection.” 5 of our favourite SPFs… These sunscreens are so good, you’ll want to apply them solo. 1. Collistar Protective Sun Cream SPF 50+, £35, LookFantastic 2. Caudalie Vinosun Protect Very High Protection Lightweight Cream SPF50+, £23 3. Paula’s Choice Advanced Sun Protection Daily Moisturiser SPF 50, £33.15 (was £39) 4. Biore UV Aqua Water Essence Sunscreen SPF50, £15.99, Superdrug 5. PCA Skin Daily Defense Broad Spectrum SPF 50+, £42

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