Jay-Jay behind IVF research

Radio personality Jay-Jay Feeney is urging Kiwi couples to take part in new research aiming to help women struggling to have a baby. Auckland University expert Dr Neil Johnson is leading a team studying whether bathing the uterus with lipiodol (poppy seed oil) before IVF treatment will help women whose embryos have repeatedly failed to implant.

Johnson said the oil had already been found to enhance fertility, but he wanted to confirm if it helped embryos stick in the uterus.

Feeney and Dominic Harvey, her husband and co-host on The Edge's breakfast show, have tried three rounds of IVF in the past 18 months without success. They are now weighing up the emotional and financial toll of another round, which would cost up to $12,000.

They put the decision on hold in January last year after becoming the legal guardians of Feeney's nephew, Seven, 6, after his father was jailed.

"I just hope like hell if we try it again, that if we get another good embryo it will stick," she said.

The team hopes Mother's Day next Sunday will encourage participants to come forward. The team wants to recruit 350 New Zealand women aged under 39 who have been confirmed infertile for more than a year or know the cause of their infertility.

Their fallopian tubes must be unblocked and they must be scheduled to undertake IVF.

They must have had three consecutive good-quality embryo transfers that did not result in pregnancy, or have been diagnosed with endometriosis, a problem with the womb lining.

Auckland University has funded the study but final sponsorship is still being sought. Research is also being carried out in Australia, India and the United Kingdom.

Dr Shelley Reilly, one of the principal researchers, said Mothers' Day was a good time to start the study - to give hope to women who "find the day hard because of infertility".

The Nurture Foundation is raising funds for the research with a Mothers' Day Afternoon High Tea at Auckland's Heritage Hotel next Sunday. It will be hosted by food personality Allyson Gofton, and the $50 tickets can be bought through Ticketek.

For more information about reproductive research and the event visit www.nurture.org.nz.