IVF in a shoebox: The Walking Egg Project

The Walking Egg Project 

The Walking Egg (TWE) is a non-profit organization founded in March 2010 by four members: Annie Vereecken, Rudi Campo, Willem Ombelet and Koen Vanmechelen. It aims to bring fertility treatment within reach for all in developing and developed countries by a multidisciplinary and global.

Willem Ombelet, Belgium.

Infertility is a cause of distress across countries and in many countries very bad stigma is attached with-it. WHO quoted that about 10% of women have infertility and per Dr. Willem Ombelet there are 150 million infertile couples worldwide.

IVF and other Assisted Reproductive Techniques come at whopping cost that is affordable to selected few in developing and developed countries. Many couples have known to sell properties and other assets to go into treatment.

The standard price of an IVF cycles in most developed countries is around $12,000.

Walking Egg project was founded with the basic aim of optimizing fertility treatments in terms of effectiveness, availability and affordability. It also aims to raise global awareness regarding childlessness and the societal and psychological implication associated with it.

One of the biggest obstacle in making IVF affordable to all is the mammoth cost of basic setup of IVF lab where "in vitro" egg fertilization is brought around.

Well, the focal point of the Walking Egg's mission is a simplified system for egg fertilization and embryo transport. Measured quantity of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate are mixed in one test tube, the Carbon Dioxide created by the chemical reaction is led into series of test-tubes housing the culture medium for the embryo. The CO2 creates the alkaline medium required for the egg fertilization.

Aluminium heating block 

To maintain the perfect temperature for the gametes, Dr Van Blerkom tried many low-cost techniques like using a thermos or aluminium heating block which worked perfectly, eliminating high-end equipment like complex microprocessor-controlled incubators.

“The embryos didn't care if they were in an expensive triple walled incubator or a thermos flask,”said Professor Jonathan Van Blerkom, Embryologist, University of Colorado.

The next day, the test tube is visualized under a microscope to see if an embryo has been formed, which is transferred to the mother’s womb after 6 days.

This simplified system reduces the whole IVF lab to an aluminium heating block containing one pair of test tubes for each embryo, all inside a shoebox-sized container.

Trials began in Genk, Belgium in November 2012, and so far, 50 healthy babies have been born in Belgium

Self contained incubators 

using the system. “The technique works at least as good as regular IVF for a lower price, “says Ombelet.

Beyond Genk, Belgium the Walking Egg project have started laboratories in Ghana Porto, Kenya, Porto, London and Sicily. But IVF lobbyist are creating problems for setting up LCIVF labs across countries.

It took 2 years for Geeta Nargund, a senior consultant gynecologist and the medical director of the Create Health Clinics in London  to  navigate through  the stricter regulation in London for a trial of The Walking Egg project to begin. 

In Europe, this method can cut IVF costs by three-quarters bringing it down to less than 200 euros (£159) per cycle, says Willem Ombelet of the Genk Institute for Fertility Technology in Belgium.

Many international organizations have already expressed their desire to collaborate with the Walking Egg project including WHO, ESHRE and ISMAAR.

The W.E organization is working on education of the women in all aspects of fertility, advocacy and networking with global and local organizations.

Currently the project team and organization collaborates with members from the developing countries and help them set up low cost IVF laboratories in their countries, training and capacity building.

Dr Willem Ombelet also gave an hour talk about the Walking Egg Project at the The Best of ASRM and ESHRE held from 23-25 February,2017 at Paris, France.

The full information about the project can  be accessed here.

The WalkingEgg Project: how to start a TWE centre?