Older women offered experimental MRT — STAT News

The article says that patients traveled to a clinic in Albania to undergo MRT. An investigation by STAT News found that experimental mitochondrial replacement techniques, or MRT, are being offered to older women as infertility treatment in the reproductive tourism industry.

The story of a British couple

The investigation began after a report from a British couple who had been trying for several years to have a second child. They turned to the American company International Fertility Group (IFG) and paid tens of thousands of dollars for access abroad to the experimental procedure.

According to the publication, MRT is illegal in the United States and tightly regulated in the United Kingdom.

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How MRT works

The method involves creating an embryo with genes from the mother and father and a small amount of DNA from the mitochondria of a third person. For this reason, MRT is sometimes called three-parent IVF.

In the United Kingdom, MRT is permitted only at one academic medical center and only to reduce the risk of transmitting mitochondrial diseases. At the same time, IFG said the procedure could help older women overcome problems that cause the chances of successful IVF to decline significantly after age 40. STAT News notes that such offerings are being made despite scientific and ethical warnings.