Medical First - Mother to Daughter Egg Donation Pending

A Montreal mother of a 7-year old girl who has Turners Syndrome sought permission this week to freeze her eggs for eventual use by her daughter at a later date. Turners Syndrome is a medical condition that affects approximately one in 2,500 female live births. The most common characteristics experienced as a result of Turners Syndrome are short stature and incomplete ovarian development. Women and girls who have Turners Syndrome either have one of the two female X sex chromosomes (karyotype X), or they have an incomplete second X sex chromosome. As a result of incomplete ovarian development, most women with Turners Syndrome are sterile. Due to her daughter's sterility, 36 year-old Melanie Boivin has made the decision to have her eggs frozen for later use by her daughter.

In most cases, women who have Turners Syndrome, while unable to conceive naturally, are able to experience a normal pregnancy via egg donation. However, if Ms. Boivin receives permission to freeze her eggs for later use by her daughter, and her daughter later uses those eggs to conceive, it will be a first. The child would be both Melanie Boivin's biological child and grandchild. Ms. Boivin's daughter would give birth to her biological half-brother or sister. Currently, there are approximately 60 cases of women freezing eggs in North America; however, this would be the very first mother to daughter egg donation.

Understandably, there are ethical questions surrounding the arrangement. However, Melanie Boivin is quick to answer her critics. "'Parents are there to help (their) children, and if she would have needed anything else, an organ, a kidney, I would give it to her without hesitation,' Boivin" said. (MSNBC)/Reuters) Thus far, there has been no reaction from the Turner Syndrome Society of the United States, nor the Turner's Syndrome Society of Canada. However, the fact that such options are now being discussed provides thousands of additional girls and women with Turners Syndrome, as well as others who are considering egg donation as a means to become pregnant, with hope and new options.

This case, due to its unusual nature, is sure to spark debate in the Turners Syndrome community, the medical field, the field of bioethics, as well as the field of infertility treatment. If Boivin's daughter one day decides to use her mother's eggs, there is the likelihood of a good outcome. According to Seang Lin Tan, director of the McGill Reproductive Centre, "pregnancy rates with vitrification eggs are almost the same as with fresh eggs." (MSNBC) The medical ethics board at McGill Reproductive Centre approved Boivin's request. The decision to use those eggs will now be left to Boivin's daughter once she becomes an adult.

Sources:

MSNBC Reuters Article. "Mom freezes eggs so daughter can have child."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18202705/

Turner Syndrome Society of the United States. http://www.turner-syndrome-us.org/

Turner's Syndrome Society of Canada. http://www.turnersyndrome.ca/