A new test for sperm called MACS (magnetic-activated cell sorting) was introduced at Shaare Zedek Medical Center roughly six months ago and today, six women, who have tried multiple times to conceive are now expecting.
MACS (magnetic-activated cell sorting) can raise the success rates of fertility treatments for couples whose cause for infertility is not known by identifying the sperm with fragile DNA and then choosing those sperm which are less fragile to improve the chances of a pregnancy.
The technique was introduced in Dr. Ephrat Schoenberger IVF lab in Shaare Zedek. Prof. Hananel Holtzer, head of the hospital’s IVF unit, said that sperm with defective DNA often lead to a defective fetus and a high risk of miscarriage. To reduce the number of fragile sperm cells, they are “marked.”
Dr. Schoenberger shared that one of the women expecting is 39 year old and she has been married for 15 years. She has had more than 10 fertility treatments over the past 6 years and she now is in her 20th week of pregnancy.
We wish all of the expectant parents, “Beshaa Tova.”
