Written by Claire Harkin, KSA Trustee and Research Coordinator
On Thursday 11th of January, I attended the Fertility Conference as a day delegate and gave a Rapid-Fire Poster Presentation on “Experiences of infertility among people with Klinefelter syndrome/XXY.”
Please scan the QR code below to view the ePoster and abstract that was presented:
The abstract was co-authored with Professor James Elander (School of Psychology, University of Derby) and Dr Bryan Woodward (Scientific Director, X&Y Fertility and Executive Committee Member of the British Fertility Society). Both are extremely interested and dedicated in understanding more about the experiences of those living with KS/XXY. They want to consider how we can work together to help improve the quality of life of those who are negatively affected. I’m incredibly grateful for all their input and help.
I’m excited to say that there are future research projects that we are currently discussing so watch this space!
Bryan is also planning to cycle from the X&Y Fertility clinic in Leicester to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Annual Meeting in Amsterdam in July and will be fundraising for the KSA! There will be more details to come about Bryan’s mammoth cycle and how you can get involved either through donating or joining him on the ride itself.
The Rapid-Fire Poster Presentation was well attended with around 50 attendees who were a mixture of reproductive scientists, consultant urologists, PhD students, genetic counsellors and academics. On speaking with me after the presentation, one of the attendees said that was the first time they had heard about KS/XXY, which highlights the importance of our work at the KSA in raising awareness.
Mr Tet Yap (Lead Clinician of the KS Clinics, Guys and St Thomas’) was in the audience. He pointed out that a fertility doctor who was quoted in our presentation was wrong when they said that a participant had “more chance of winning the lottery than you have of fathering a child”. Mr Yap said that this statement is incorrect and the odds for a person with KS/XXY to fathering child are increased with the aid of fertility procedures.
As part of the day, I also attended many presentations, two in particular which stood out: ‘Sex chromosome evolution and infertility’ by James Turner (The Francis Crick Institute, UK) and ‘Giving oxygen to spermatogonial stem cell therapies’ by Tessa Lord (The University of Newcastle, Australia). James Turner’s presentation touched on KS/XXY and how stem cell therapy may be able to reprogramme cells to remove extra X chromosomes. These trials are in the very early stages and are currently being carried out on mice. Tessa Lord’s presentation covered how stem cell therapy was being used to support sperm development in koala bears in Australia! It will be interesting to see how this research progresses and how it could maybe be used to help human fertility in the future. Both presentations were recorded and once they are ready, I’ll ask if it’s possible to link them with KSA website.
It was a great event to attend and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to spread awareness about KS/XXY and to have attended presentations on the exciting developments in fertility, some of which may give hope to those with KS/XXY who are struggling with fertility and wish to have biological children of their own.
Information on how you can sponsor/join Bryan on his bike ride will be coming soon, please keep an eye out on the KSA website, social media channels and Newsletter.
If you would like to contact the KS Clinics at Guys and St Thomas’, click here: https://theklinefeltersyndromeclinic.com/
If you would like to contact X & Y Fertility, click here: https://www.xyfertility.co.uk/