Page A2 2 - The Michigan Daily -Thursday, September 5, 1985
'U' test tube
baby program
sparks hope
By KATIE WILCOX
University Hosptials' test tube baby
program has sparked new hope for in-
fertile couples in the state.
The first baby conceived in the Hos-
pital's In Vitro Fertilization/Embryo
Transfer (IVF/ET) program was
born July 12 and the next birth is ex-
pected in December. In vitro literally
mean "in glas's," and refers to con-
ception outside the mother's body in a
special solution in a glass culture
dish.
JENNIFER ROBICHARD was born
to Donna and Terry Robichard of
Adrian this summer after an uncom-
plicated pregnancy and nine and a
half hours of normal labor. "There
were no problems," said Dr. Jonathan
Ayers who heads the IVF/ET
program, "There is no increased risk
with in vitro fertilization, the problem
is getting it (the embryo) to take (in
the uterus)."
"It was a success," said Hospital
spokesman Stephen House of the
Robichard birth.
No names have been released for
the upcoming birth this winter.
THE IVF/ET program is part of the
University's Reproductive En-
docrinology and Infertility Service in
the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology at the Women's Hospital.
In vitro fertilization is new hope for
infertile couples, but is used only after
all other methods of conception have
failed.
Couples are carefully screened for
the program, and acceptance is based
on complete medical records and
physical and psychological
examinations. The woman must have
a normal and healthy uterus and the
man must have normal and healthy
sperm.
MOST COUPLES who are eligible
are infertile because of damaged or
absent fallopian tubes in the women's
uterus.
The implanting procedure takes
less than two weeks, and is done on an
outpatient basis. Timing is important,
because the process must be matched
to the woman's normal ovulation
cycle.
The hormone Pergonal is ad-
ministered to stimulate production of
the eggs to increase the chance for
fertilization. Pergonal also leads to a
higher rate of multiple births, mostly
twins and triplets.
AFTER A FEW days, HCG, a hor-
mone that induces ovulation by
helping the egg mature, is given to the
mother.
Several hours later, the eggs are
removed from the woman's body and
placed with the husband's semen in a
solution in the culture dish. The fer-
tilized eggs are transferred back to
the mother's uterus after two or three
days.
If conception has occurred, the
fetus's development will be closely
watched through the early stages.
Monitoring the mother's estrogen
level is important because this hor-
mone signals the progress of the egg's
development.
ONE REMAINING difficulty is get-
ting the egg to attach to the uterus
lining for normal growth. The hor-
mone progesterone helps prepare the
lining for the embryo.
Ninety percent of those who undergo
the procedure have successful tran-
sfers of the fertilized egg back to the
womb. The rate of miscarriage and
malformed babies is no higher than
that of regular pregnancies. The suc-
cess rate of both regular and in vitro
fertilization is about 10-15 percent, but
in vitro fertilization is very expensive,
costing about $3,000 per try. For a 50
percent chance of pregnancy, it
takes four attempts, or four of the
woman's cycles. This comes to about
$12,000. Insurance currently covers
very little of this.
"A lot of infertility procedures
couples end up paying for out of their
own pockets," Ayers said.
Sixteen couples have so far un-
dergone in vitro fertilization at the
University since the program began
in June 1984. Four pregnancies have
resulted, but only two have continued
successfully.
As for the program's success, "The
problem is not demand, the problem
is paying for it," Ayers said.
The world's first "test tube baby",
Louise Brown, was born in 1978 a'(
Cambridge, England. The number of
babies since then conceived outside
the womb is approximated at about
600.
Dozens of returnable bottles wait to be picked up at Campus Corner. The number of recyclable bottles may double if the state Senate passes a bill
to make wine cooler bottles returnable.
Senate to consider wine cooler reccle bill
r
By SUSAN GRANT
At the end of the month, the
Michigan Senate will consider a bill
that will add California Wine Cooler
bottles to the list of returnables in this
state.
"The wine cooler business is a big
growth industry with an increasing
amount of sales," said the bill's spon-
sor, Senator William Sederberg (D-
East Lansing).
THERE WERE 1.7 million gallons
of wine coolers sold in Michigan last
year, said Bill Rusten, the director of
grants and programs at the Michigan
United Conservationists Club. And all
of these bottles must ultimately be
disposed of.
"It's a growing problem and we're
trying to deal with it by putting a
deposit on the bottles,' Rusten said.
Sederberg thinks the bill is a
natural extension of the 1978 bottle
law that makes beer and soda bottles
returnable.
THOSE WHO favor the bill are con-
cerned with land and energy conser-
vation and the reduction of litter.
Bottles made from recycled material
use less energy and cut back on the
number of solid waste landfills
needed.
Since the bottle law was enacted,
solid waste was reduced by 5 percent
in Detroit, Rusten said. "That means
for every 20 landfills, one didn't have
to be built," he said.
As a store owner, the law can be a
hassle, but the benefits outweigh the
trouble," said Mary Giraud, part
owner of Strickland's Market on Ged-
des.
"I LIVE out in the country and the
litter has decreased there," Giraud
said. "Also, my husband bought a
bike from the money he earned collec-
ting cans," she said.
Some store owners have to return
the bottles themselves. "Our
distributors don't take the bottles
back and we have to do it ourselves,
but it's worth it," said Paul Got-
tschalk, a manager at the People's
Food Co-op.
"Solid waste disposal doesn't use so
much land now, and there is a group
of people living on the bottle returns,"
he said.
BUT THE bill is not without op-
position.
Many store owners are concerned
with storage, price control, and health
risks.
"It's nice to have cleaner roads and
all that, but it's hard to think of those
things when dealing with empty bot-
tles," said Bill Knudsterup, a
manager at Village Corner.
"It's an absurd law as far as
retailers go," he said. "We have to use
bug spray every couple of weeks and
the employees are always getting wet
from drippy bottles."
ONE employee at Stop-N-Go got
sick because she handled a dirty bot-
tle, said Joan Ryerson, the store's
assistant manager.
Finding room to store the bottles is
another problem. Stop-N-Go had to
build an extra room for storage.
"Also, prices have risen. Right after
the law was passed, prices rose every
six months for two years," Knud-
sterup said.
PRICES are rising in part because
delivery trucks reserve room in their
trucks for returnables, rather than fill
the trucks with full bottles. This for-
ces them to make more deliveries.
Accepting returnables does have
some perks for the store owners.
Some people spend the money they
get from returning empties as soon as
they get it.
"When students bring in bottles
from a six-pack, they usually use the
money to buy another six-pack," said
Tom House, another manager at
Village Corner.
"Most of the people who return bot-
tIes are students and local residents,
but we do have . a few people who
return bottles daily to buy cigarettes
and alcohol," said Randy Smith, the
manager of Blue Front.
But some people return bottles
because they need quick change for
laundry or parking meters. "We
needed money for the meter, and we
had a couple of bottles in the van so we
brought them in," said Rob Goodman,
a high school student from Florida.
Center recycles garbage
By SUSAN GRANT
The Ann Arbor Ecology Center,
operating since 1970, has grown into
one of the most successful programs
in the state, center officials say.
"Recycle Ann Arbor" was initiated
by the center and was completed last
April, so all Ann Arbor homes now
have access to curbside recyclable
garbage pick-up service.
THE CENTER recycles about one-
fifth of the recyclable material in Ann
Arbor's neighborhoods, Wienert said.
The biggest problem with the
program is communication, said 'Jim
Fry, staff coordinator at the Ecology
Center. Once people learn where the
drop-off points are and what items are
recyclable, participation is ,expected
to increase.
The drop-off point nearest to Cen-
tral Campus is 2050 S. Industrial
Highway between Stadium and
Ellsworth. Drop-off times are Friday
and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:3018
p.m.
ABOUT 50 percent of Ann Arbor
residents recycle some materials,
Wienert said, but student par-
ticipation is low.
Many students are not aware of the
recycling project and "they are a
transient population that just doesn't
have the knowledge that such things
as curbside service are available for
recyclables," Wienert said.
.But some dorms - such as East
Quad, West Quad, and Baits housing
- do recycle, Wienert said.
Unlike returning soda and beer bot-
tles, recycling through the Ecology
Center offers no material incentive.
The intangible benefit is the satisfac-
tion that comes from helping the en-
vironment, Wienert said.
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