“There is not enough government’s control of in-vitro fertilisation”, says Anna Veiga

Barcelona (ACN).- Victoria was born 27 years ago. She was Spain’s first “In-vitro” baby. Now, Anna Veiga, the doctor who helped her and thousands of others to be born, has published a book where she discusses the evolution of assisted reproduction techniques. In the book, ‘The miracle of life’, Veiga argues that assisted reproduction in Spain has been developing despite the “lack of control” of the government. “It is no compulsory to have records of who is taking part in assisted reproduction activity, there is no definitive list of accredited hospitals, and we do not have a donors register. This is not acceptable”, Veiga said in an interview with the CNA.

The doctor explained that Catalonia is like an “oasis” within Spain, because there is a system of information about in-vitro reproduction (FIVCAT) and the Generalitat keeps a control on all hospitals allowed to use this technique. However, even here, not all “needed controls are taken”. The scientific sector has assumed the responsibility to manage and organize the in-vitro activity, said Veiga, despite the governments being forced by law to create public structures of control.

“In-vitro”, the most successful assisted reproduction technique

“The most exciting moment I recall was when I saw in an ultrasound scan how the baby’s heart was beating”, said Veiga. Finally, after several failed attempts, the pregnancy of one of her patients was being successful. Veiga and her colleagues at the Dexeus Institute in Barcelona created an embryo after combining the parents’ egg and sperm in a test tube. They afterwards transferred this new embryo back into the uterus. On 12 July 1984 Victòria was born. “She was the culmination of all these efforts”, remembered doctor Veiga.

 After that first and successful delivery, more than 4 million children have been born in Spain thanks to in-vitro techniques; about 10.000 of them at the Dexeus Institute, where Veiga works. In the eighties, this hospital in Barcelona was competing with other centers in Spain to be the first to create a test-tube baby. Now, they are on the top of Europe. “Lots of patients from all around Europe come to us to take these treatments”, said Veiga.

Ethics

According to Veiga, it is “very important” to be ethical when issues such as “creating life” are at stake. She is completely against ‘children made-to-order’, or in other words, against allowing parents to choose whether their child would be “blonder, taller or more or less intelligent”. “People’s traits are not related to a single gene and, besides, family and social contexts play a role in how different we are from each other”, she said. However, Veiga thinks that is appropriate to intervene when a genetically-related disease can be avoided. “We are always going to do our best do avoid diseases”, she stated.

Donors and sperm quality

New nutritional habits and ways of life, as well as pollution, affect the quality of sperm, but Doctor Veiga said that this is not yet worrying. According to her, the poorer sperm quality “does not reduce reproductive capacity” because only some of the million of spermatozoon that are in a sperm sample are really needed. More worrying, though, is the age women decide to get pregnant. Older mothers could develop “more problems” during pregnancy than younger ones.

Stem cells investigation

Doctor Anna Veiga’s field of work has changed slightly in the recent years. Today, she is the responsible of the bank of stem cells in the Center for Regenerative Medicine of Barcelona. “The investigation of stem cells will have great impact in the future”, she confessed, arguing that it would not only help in “regenerative medicine” but also in solving “fertility problems”.

Veiga recognized she is experiencing with her research in stem cells the same excitement she felt thirty years ago, when they initiated researching in-vitro fertilization. “As back then, we are starting an investigation in an unknown field”, she said. This summer, Veiga would have a new and exciting role as the president of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. This is an important step in her career but for doctor Veiga it is only the beginning of many more.