Mitochondrial replacement therapy, or MRT, is being marketed internationally as an experimental fertility treatment for women who have struggled to conceive, including those who have experienced repeated failed rounds of in vitro fertilization. The procedure involves placing a patient’s genetic material into another woman’s egg cells, with the donor’s mitochondria intended to support embryo development.
STAT reporter Megan Molteni investigated the companies and clinics offering access to MRT over eight months. Her reporting examined patients’ experiences and involved conversations with dozens of patients, employees and researchers, as well as visits to locations where reproductive tourism takes place, including a clinic in Albania.
MRT is not legal in the United States. Medical tourism agencies charge thousands of dollars to connect patients with clinics in other countries, and many target women over 40. However, the material says there is limited evidence that the procedure improves pregnancy prospects linked to age-related infertility.
The investigation began after a British couple contacted Molteni about a reproductive tourism company called IFG, which they said marketed MRT as a potential solution for age-related infertility. The woman, a doctor in her 40s, ultimately decided not to undergo the treatment after negative experiences before the procedure. She later helped Molteni contact other women who were considering or pursuing MRT.
Molteni described reproductive tourism as a complex process in which different parts of fertility treatment can be distributed across companies and countries to work around regulations. MRT adds further scientific and legal complications, making the industry difficult to examine. One important development in the reporting was access to previously unpublished data from a Ukrainian clinic that had been a major MRT provider before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
The data came through conversations with the clinic’s former embryologist, Pavlo Mazur. According to Molteni, the results represent a strong challenge to the idea that MRT is a definitive treatment for age-related infertility.
The wider STAT newsletter also highlighted possible health policy changes after an election, research linking periods around elections with increased cardiac risks, and the importance of cancer treatment decisions during pregnancy.
Sources: STAT News.