New guideline presents evidence on assisted reproduction in cases of six prevalent viruses - Hepatitis B (HBV), Hepatitis C (HCV), HIV, Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV I/II), Zika and HPV – with recommendations on virus transmission and prevention, and on factors affecting reproductive outcomes in couples with or without fertility problems.

Almost four years after ESHRE and Alpha Scientists reported their indicators for laboratory performance in ART, a new consensus has now been published by an ESHRE working group on indicators of clinical performance in ART.

Consensus from a lively coffee-break at the Annual Meeting concluded that abnormally fertilized oocytes can be rescued for clinical use and result in healthy live births. Efthymia Constantinou, Junior Deputy from the SIG Reproductive Genetics, reports.

With fertility rates in most developed countries now at their lowest ever level, one Thursday presentation at this meeting asked what many are thinking: can ART compensate for these declining fertility rates and the continued postponement of childbearing.

Findings from the first analysis of ESHRE’s registry of COVID-19-affected ART pregnancies ‘offer reassurance’ that outcomes are similar to those found in spontaneous pregnancies.

The latest impact factors, calculated for 2020 and released at the end of June, find Human Reproduction Update once again leading by far the categories of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, while Human Reproduction and Molecular Human Reproduction both make further gains.

With the slides produced a few days in advance of this Annual Assembly of Members, the Society’s Chair, Cristina Magli, in presenting ESHRE’s 2021 report via a live link was able to update members on registrations for the annual meeting, which stood at 9244 for the main programme and 3021 for the precongress courses. The Chair said she was ‘absolutely happy’ with these registrations and expressed her gratitude to all who had made the meeting possible.

A September ESHRE Campus workshop organised by the SIGs Fertility Preservation and Stem Cells featured current and emerging approaches for fertility preservation, including oocyte in vitro maturation, cell therapy, reproductive tissue engineering and organ-on-chip approaches. Mina Popovic and Christiani Amorim from the SIG Stem Cells report from the two-day programme.

A survey of more than 1500 IVF patients in Australia has found that most had used adjunct treatments alongside their standard treatment – and usually at additional cost.

The potential of artificial intelligence in many of the IVF lab’s processes was a recurring theme in some of the 1300 abstracts submitted for inclusion in this year’s Annual Meeting. In an invited session embryologist Nikica Zaninovic from Cornell summarised how AI is already changing the way babies are made.