Local doctor provides hope to couples trying to have babies

Mathis Winkler

Wooden showcases filled with hundreds of baby pictures line the

hallways in Dr. Lawrence Werlin’s clinic. Proud parents have brought them

to the 51-year-old reproductive medicine specialist to thank him for

their offspring he helpedproduce.

There’s also a framed magazine article profiling Werlin, which points

out his Albert Einstein-esque appearance and his love for the Rolling

Stones.

Werlin’s shoe box office screams absent-minded professor rather than

cutting-edge pioneer. Piles of folders cover a large wooden desk. Stuffed

animals and dolls -- many bearing a striking resemblance to the doctor,

down to the buttons with the trademark Rolling Stones lip and tongue logo

he wears on his lab coat -- sit on book shelves.

But despite the appearance, the Lido Isle resident is set to

revolutionize in vitro fertilization in Orange County in the coming

weeks. By October, he plans to offer a new genetic testing tool called

preimplantation genetic diagnosis to his patients.

Most of the women he sees have either had miscarriages, failed

fertilization treatments or are at a high risk of giving birth to

children with genetic abnormalities because of their age.

“We stand at the frontier of changing the whole picture of

reproductive medicine,” Werlin said during a conversation in his Irvine

office. “To help these patients by preventing heartache ... what a

phenomenal thing to do.”

The procedure works like this: An embryo is created by combining an

egg and sperm in the laboratory. Three days after fertilization, the

embryo has divided into eight cells. Removing one of these cells and

testing its genetic makeup allows doctors to determine whether the child

will have certain genetic diseases, such as Down’s syndrome or cystic

fibrosis. Two days later, a genetically “healthy” embryo can be implanted

in the uterus.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis isn’t a completely new concept.

First performed in 1989, several university hospitals on the East Coast

and the Midwest have helped give birth to between 300 and 400 babies this

way. Werlin added that it was too early to tell the success rate of the

procedure.

But local physicians said Werlin’s work would begin making the

treatment more readily available to women.

“It’s considered more experimental rather than something we offer to

patients on a day-to-day basis,” said Steve Thomas, who works in Hoag

Hospital’s department of parinatology, adding there hasn’t been a big

demand for the procedure so far.

Werlin, who founded the hospital’s fertility services before opening

his own clinic in Irvine, seemed clearly excited about bringing the test

to Southern California.

Apart from detecting genetic disorders, he’ll also be able to

determine an embryo’s gender. Because genetic conditions such as Duchenne

muscular dystrophy or hemophilia only affect males, Werlin would not

implant male embryos affected by the disorder.

Isn’t he worried that his work could be perceived as playing with

nature?

“This is not a procedure to do sex selection,” Werlin said, adding

that professional groups such as the American Society for Reproductive

Medicine have set guidelines for procedures involving genetic testing.

Before he can begin testing his patients, he needs approval from an

Institutional Review Board, he said.

“Part of what we have to do as the pioneers is to be aware of ethical

and moral issues,” Werlin said. “And set up appropriate guidelines that

our colleagues will follow.”

The procedure caters to couples who have failed to have children, but

Werlin said it might also help some realize they won’t be able to have

their own offspring.

“It might help people to realize that they need to move on and pursue

other alternatives,” he said, adding that couples who only produce

embryos with genetic disorders might consider donor eggs or donor sperm

or turn to adopting a child.

While Werlin sees the testing method as a quantum leap for

reproductive medicine, he added it can only detect genetic disorders. A

pregnancy might still fail if the embryo suffers from another disorder,

such as a severe heart defect.

But as far as he is concerned, this is just the beginning.

“In the future, we will be able to isolate genes that cause certain

types of cancer, muscle and bone abnormalities,” he said. “The more that

we learn about the [human] genome, the more we’ll be able to help the

population to a healthier existence.”