Starting a family may involve some robotic assistance in the near future.

AI-powered in-vitro fertilization (IVF) is the newest application for artificial intelligence, as labs and health centers around the world have adopted the new technology.

This includes Columbia University Fertility Center in New York. Its Sperm Tracking and Recovery (STAR) method uses AI to identify viable sperm in men who struggle with infertility.

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The fertility center also developed a robot to assist in the IVF lab, preparing specialized plates to sustain embryos.

Research published in the journal Fertility and Sterility found that this robot is 10 times more precise in preparing these embryo culture plates than humans.

Dr. Zev Williams, director of Columbia University Fertility Center, said in a statement to Fox News Digital that these technologies have been “truly transformative” for patients.

“There are literally babies being conceived because of our innovations who otherwise could not have been,” he said. “We’re offering tangible solutions to couples who have struggled with infertility for years, even decades.”

AI in action

Two other companies, Overture Life in California and Conceivable Life in New York, have developed AI-powered robotics to carry out IVF processes.

Conceivable Life CEO Alan Murray told Fox News Digital how the company’s AURA AI-powered IVF technology brings “robotics precision” to a delicate process. 

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“IVF requires extraordinary precision, but human hands introduce variability, no matter how skilled,” he said.

The AI technology “automates everything,” Murray said, including sperm selection, egg preparation, sperm injection, embryo culture and egg freezing.

The Columbia University Fertility Center has introduced automated IVF systems. (Columbia University Fertility Center)

The technology is not intended to replace embryologists, he noted, but to support them with technology that helps eliminate human error.

Murray said the technology is showing “early but promising data.” In a pilot study, it achieved 51% pregnancy rates and led to 19 healthy babies from trial participants.

AURA is targeting a clinical launch in the U.S. in 2026, pending testing and validation.

Overture Life has created a similar system of products that are beginning to yield “healthy live babies,” CEO Hans Gangeskar told Fox News Digital in an interview.

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Overture’s key product, the DaVitri, is a handheld device that automates egg-freezing. The company also offers other technologies for embryo selection and fertilization.

Gangeskar said its clinical trials have had “very good results,” with the technology expected to launch in Europe “imminently.”

Cutting high costs 

Last week, President Donald Trump announced a plan to slash IVF costs for American families and expand access, as a single round in the U.S. can cost up to $25,000.

Although it takes an average of three cycles to have a baby, some women may undergo up to 15 cycles before achieving a viable pregnancy, according to Dr. Stephanie Kuku, chief knowledge officer of Conceivable Life.

The AI-powered robots can help with egg freezing, as well as choosing viable embryos and insemination precision. (Conceivable Life)

It takes 200 manual steps to create an embryo in a lab, the expert noted — but a robotic assistant could help an embryologist make “complex decisions” with more precision and potentially reduce the number of cycles.

Murray said that AI is “reimagining the laboratory” to increase efficiency, reduce the number of cycles and improve IVF success rates.

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“Right now, IVF outcomes depend on which clinic you go to, which embryologist is on duty and whether you can afford multiple cycles,” he said. “Our vision is to change the technology that doctors use so they can do it without that big investment.”

The CEO noted this technology could also remove some of the grief for families who have experienced multiple failed IVF cycles.

“Everybody has their limit on how much of that pain they can take before they give up,” he said. “It’s incredibly personal.”

An Overture Life scientist is pictured in the lab using the DaVitri device. (Overture Life)

Religious red flags

For those with certain religious beliefs, taking the IVF route may raise concerns.

“Different religious traditions have different perspectives on assisted reproduction,” Murray said. “It’s a very personal thing.”

He pointed out that “infertility does not discriminate,” as one in six people experiences issues globally.

“Our role isn’t to make those decisions for families — it’s to provide technology that makes family building possible for those who choose this path,” Murray said. 

Gangeskar acknowledged that religion “comes up all the time” when speaking with patients about IVF options, noting that “Christian IVF” has surfaced as an alternative option.

“AI may assist in creating life, but it must also respect it.”

Instead of retrieving many eggs, fertilizing all of them and then freezing the embryos, Christian IVF historically involves freezing and fertilizing them one by one, so there are never embryos left over.

“This is something that the DaVitri can actually be very helpful with, because you know that your eggs were frozen in the best possible way,” Gangeskar said. 

“The goal is to make IVF more accessible by making it more efficient, and ideally more affordable,” one expert said. (iStock)

Potential risks

Dr. Harvey Castro, an ER physician and AI expert in Texas, who was not involved in this IVF research, told Fox News Digital he considers this an “industrial revolution of reproductive medicine.”

Castro warned, however, that there may be room for algorithm error when making important decisions such as classifying an embryo. This calls into question who’s accountable — the clinician, the developer or the AI vendor, for example.

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He said most AI systems are validated on limited patient data, which means large, diverse, multi-center trials are required before expanding these machines for clinical use.

“AI may assist in creating life, but it must also respect it,” he said. “As both a physician and an AI futurist, I believe our goal is not just more births, but healthier beginnings — achieved responsibly, ethically and equitably.”

More data is emerging supporting a sharp decline in the number of young adults identifying as transgender or non-binary.

Last week, Fox News Digital reported on data shared by Eric Kaufman, a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, showing that the share of college students identifying as anything other than male or female has been cut in half in just two years.

Now, Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, has identified additional data that appears to confirm these findings on a wider scale.

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First, Twenge analyzed data from the nationally representative Household Pulse survey, which asked people directly about identifying as transgender, as she stated in an article for Generation Tech. 

“The Household Pulse data showed a decline in trans ID among 18- to 22-year-olds in 2024, but I was cautious about drawing conclusions from it, as the decline appeared only in a limited time period (July to September 2024) — and two of the three survey administrations added an option for non-binary identification that wasn’t there before,” she wrote. “Maybe that was why identifying as trans declined.”

Next, the professor — who is also the author of the book “Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents” — looked at another nationally representative survey.

The Cooperative Election Study (CES), a nonprobability-based survey fielded each year in the fall by YouGov and administered by Tufts University, asked about transgender identification among all U.S. adults from 2021 to 2024. It also included a separate question about identifying as non-binary.

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In 2021, 2022 and 2024, the CES asked, “Do you identify as transgender?” The choices were “yes,” “no” and “prefer not to say.” 

“Prefer not to say” responses were treated as missing data, Twenge shared with Fox News Digital.

Beginning in 2021, the sex/gender question of the CES asked, “What is your gender?” with choices of “man,” “woman,” “non-binary” and “other.”

Beginning in 2021, the sex/gender question of the CES asked, “What is your gender?” with choices of “man,” “woman,” “non-binary” and “other.” (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Among 18- to 22-year-olds, trans identification was cut nearly in half from 2022 to 2024 — and non-binary identification dropped by more than half between 2023 and 2024.

“When I looked at adults of all ages in the survey … I found a huge increase in identifying as transgender from those born before 1980 (Gen X and Boomers) to those born in the early 2000s (who are now 21 to 25 years old),” Twenge told Fox News Digital. 

“Identifying as transgender then declined, especially for those born in 2005 and 2006 (who are now 18 to 20 years old).”

“I think the question now is not if trans is in decline, but how far it will fall.”

There are several theories as to why this is happening. 

“One possibility is changes in acceptance; as acceptance increased, more young adults identified as transgender and/or were willing to identify as transgender in a survey,” Twenge said. “When acceptance declined, identifying as transgender (or at least identifying as transgender on a survey) declined.”

Among 18- to 22-year-olds, trans identification was cut nearly in half from 2022 to 2024 — and non-binary identification dropped by more than half between 2023 and 2024. (iStock)

In previous analyses looking at data from another survey, Twenge found that the increase in identifying as transgender between 2014 and 2023 did not extend to people over age 45 (Gen X and boomers). 

“That makes it less likely that the changes are due to acceptance, which should impact people of all ages,” she said. “However, it’s possible that acceptance increased more among young adults between 2014 and 2023 and then decreased more into 2024.”

Twenge emphasized that identifying as transgender and identifying as non-binary are two different things. 

“One of the reasons I did this analysis was because the surveys Prof. Kaufmann relied on did not ask about identifying as transgender — they asked about identifying as non-binary or something other than male or female,” she noted. “I wanted to see if there was a decline in identifying as transgender.”

She added, “I also thought it was important to look at a nationally representative sample and not just at students from elite schools.”

“Once people become more comfortable [with] who they are, they stop needing to define themselves so rigidly,” a mental health expert said. (iStock)

Kaufmann applauded Twenge’s new report, calling her “the best in the business.”

“It was good to see that mainstream academic generation researchers are following up,” he told Fox News Digital. “Her data very much reinforces what I found using FIRE, Brown and Andover Phillips data.”

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“I think the question now is not if trans is in decline,” he added, “but how far it will fall — and what the implications will be for the cultural progressive project, and for trends in gender surgery and diagnosis.”

“Perhaps young people are realizing they don’t have to announce or label everything about themselves to be valid.”

Jonathan Alpert, a New York City psychotherapist, said this shift likely marks a “natural correction.”

“For a while, we taught young people to over-interpret every feeling. Therapy culture told them that every discomfort needed a label or diagnosis,” Alpert, who was not part of the cited surveys, previously told Fox News Digital. “For some, that label became ‘non-binary’ — not identifying with a gender.”

Rather than rejecting who they are, Alpert said, young people may simply be tired of feeling pressure to define every emotion or difference with a new identity. 

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“So, in essence, it’s the performance that’s slowing down — at least in what this study showed,” he said. “A few years ago, identity was treated almost like a social badge. Now, perhaps young people are realizing they don’t have to announce or label everything about themselves to be valid.”

Alpert said he sees this same pattern in his own therapy practice.

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“Once people become more comfortable [with] who they are, they stop needing to define themselves so rigidly. To me, that’s a sign of growing self-assurance, not intolerance.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Tufts University and to the U.S. Census Bureau requesting comment.