Four children were born to three couples at a Kobe maternity clinic after in vitro tests were conducted on their fertilized eggs to check for genetic problems without approval from the national obstetrics society, it was learned Thursday.
According to Otani Women's Clinic, the couples were all in their 30s and the women had all miscarried at least three times due to genetic disorders. The in vitro genetic tests for hereditary diseases and chromosome disorders were conducted before the eggs were implanted, as there was more than a 90 percent chance that they would miscarry again. One woman had twins, while the other two each had one child.
Clinic chief Tetsuo Otani has caused controversy before. He was expelled from the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology last year because the facility conducted genetic analysis of eggs fertilized in vitro for two women to choose the sex without the society's consent.
Genetic analysis of eggs fertilized using the method involves checking for irregularities in genes and chromosomes by removing one or two cells after the egg has divided into four to eight cells. Eggs that are healthy are returned to the body and those that have problems are destroyed.