A guide about the IVF process

 

what is IVF?

Thinking about overcoming infertility with in vitro fertilization (IVF)? Here’s how it works, plus everything you need to know about the IFV timeline, injections, side effects, and more.

About one in eight American couples struggle with infertility, or the inability to conceive despite having regular unprotected sex. As a solution, increasing numbers of people are turning to in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure in which surgically removed eggs are fertilized with sperm in a laboratory, then inserted directly into the uterus.

About 5% of all children born in the United States were conceived through IVF, says Amy Schutt, M.D., a reproductive endocrinologist at the Family Fertility Center at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. That equates to more than one million total babies. If you’re seeking to get pregnant through IVF, it’s important to understand the success rates, method, and possible side effects. Here’s all you need to know about IVF before signing up for the procedure.

• Who Gets IVF Procedure?

Infertility has a wide range of causes in both women and men. Treatment usually involves correcting the underlying problem with medication or surgery. But sometimes conventional treatment proves difficult, and couples turn to assisted contraception methods like IVF instead. For example, women with fallopian tube blockage often opt for IVF; since the fertilized egg is inserted directly into the uterus during the procedure, the tubes aren’t necessary for conception. Similarly, IVF procedure is common if the man has a low sperm count (oligospermia) or a lack of sperm in the ejaculate (azoospermia).

• Not every woman suffering from infertility is a candidate for IVF. According to Dr. Schutt, patients should think twice about IVF if they have a premature ovarian failure or a serious medical problem that precludes pregnancy. Religious beliefs and financial constraints may also deter women from undergoing the procedure (the average cost of IVF is $12,000, plus an additional $3,000-5,000 for necessary medications). What’s more, women who don’t produce eggs – whether because of menopause or another condition – can’t undergo IVF unless they use a donor or frozen eggs, according to Dr. Timothy Hickman, the medical director of CCRM Houston and director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Houston Methodist Hospital.

IVF Process: How is IVF done?

“IVF involves handling of both eggs and sperm within the laboratory to allow for the fertilization of eggs and early development of embryos,” says Dr. Schutt. To prepare for IVF, a woman takes injectable fertility medications for approximately 10 days, during which the growth of her eggs is closely monitored. “When the eggs are ready to be collected (about 14 days later), the woman takes one final HCG injection that assists in the maturation of the eggs – and 36 hours afterward, the eggs are collected from the ovary,” says Dr. Schutt. Doctors use a narrow needle, suction device, and ultrasound imaging to retrieve the eggs. This IVF process usually involves anesthesia or sedation to relieve pain.

Next, the embryologist places the collected eggs on a Petri dish. She combines the eggs with sperm taken from the male in a process called insemination. If the sperm has low motility (impaired movement) the embryologist may insert sperm directly into the eggs (ICSI). The fertilized eggs, or embryos, are stored for three to seven days. "If genetic testing (chromosomal defect screening that lets you see the sex of the embryo) is to be performed, then the embryo is biopsied between the fifth and seventh day of development," adds Dr. Schutt. Note that some clinics allow you to choose the sex during genetic testing, while others do not. 

Finally, doctors transplant one or more embryos into the uterus with a catheter. Implantation – and subsequent pregnancy – usually takes place one or two weeks later.

IVF Success Rate

According to Dr. Schutt, the success rate of IVF depends largely on egg quality and quantity. “Egg quality is primarily a reflection of the age of the woman from which the eggs are obtained. The younger a woman is when she goes through IVF, the greater chance her eggs will potentially result in a healthy pregnancy,” she says. “Egg quantity is more variable, and it’s measured via ultrasound (to count the number of antral follicles) and lab work,” including blood tests. Other factors that affect IVF success include weight, alcohol intake, and tobacco use. 

IVF Side Effects

Most women who undergo IVF don’t have any symptoms, but possible IVF side effects include:

• Cramping
• Bloating
• Breast tenderness
• Clear or bloody fluid, which comes from the vagina in small amounts
• Mood swings
• Constipation

Some women also experience side effects from the hormonal injections they take before IVF. These include headaches, abdominal pain, mood swings, bloating, hot flashes, and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) – a rare condition that occurs from excess egg production. Symptoms are weight gain, abdominal pain and swelling, nausea, shortness of breath, and dizziness. Consult your doctor if you think you developed OHSS – or if you experience other worrisome side effects of IVF like heavy vaginal bleeding or excessive pain.

A Guide to the IVF Process

things to do to make ivf successful

 

How to Increase Your Chances of IVF Success

If you are looking to increase your chances of conceiving during IVF, here are 8 tips from 5 different fertility doctors.

• 1. Maintain a healthy weight.

"Maintaining a healthy weight is extremely important infertility and IVF," says Linnea Goodman, MD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UNC School of Medicine. "We know that being obese (BMI >35) and underweight (BMI <19) increases the time of conception by 2 and 4 times respectively, and negatively affects IVF success rates. Being overweight also makes monitoring the ovaries during IVF more difficult and increases the chance of complications during egg retrievals."

This is best implemented with changes in diet and activity with professional help.

"Working with a dietitian, and in some programs enrolling in a cardiometabolic weight loss program can help achieve these goals," says Zaraq Khan, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

2. Optimize sperm health.

"Use of multivitamins and maintaining optimal body weight, as well using boxers over briefs, could improve sperm quality," says Dr. Khan. "Under appropriate care, men can also be started on medications that can help boost sperm numbers and quality that can have a beneficial impact on IVF outcome. In certain cases, sperm aspirated directly from the testicle over ejaculate could also be beneficial. Involving a male infertility specialist for any form of abnormalities in semen analyses is key."

• 3. Partner with an excellent doctor and embryology laboratory.

"Choosing an excellent reproductive endocrinologist is twofold: in addition to experience and commitment to evidence-based medicine, look for someone with whom you feel comfortable and connected. Your doctor will accompany you on this very emotional journey and it is important for you to feel supported and heard," says Elizabeth Fino, MD, fertility specialist at NYU Langone Fertility Center. "Asking for recommendations from friends and family who know you best can help guide you to a knowledgeable physician with whom you feel comfortable, but also be sure to do your research."

In a world of online reviews, it can be difficult to determine credibility.

"Be careful of online reviews—they are often completed by select patients who had an extreme experience for one reason or another and may not be universally applicable. FertilityIQ offers a unique model which hones in on specific aspects of the experience after vetting patient reviews.

To find an excellent embryology laboratory, look for a long history of exceptional outcomes. One source is the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology which details the clinic's volume and live birth rate."

4. Reduce your stress.

"Basal stress levels can influence natural and assisted conception rates," says Dr. Khan. "Reducing stress troubles during an IVF stimulation cycle can be one of the hardest things to achieve for couples. Several reports suggest improvement of pregnancy outcomes with the use of acupuncture and other stress-relieving techniques, like enrolling in mind-body programs, stress reduction, and resilience training workshops."

5. Quit smoking

"Smoking can drastically decrease the chance of success while doing IVF because it affects egg and sperm quality," says Dr. Khan.

But you don't have to do it on your own.

"Quitting smoking is not an easy task and often requires a great deal of personal as well as professional support. Try to involve your friends and family to help encourage you in the process. For smoking cessation, structured programs and/or pharmacological assistance have proven to be most successful," says Dr. Fino.

6. Look into taking supplements

"DHEA and CoQ10 are supplements that have shown some promise in association with an increase in egg quantity and quality," says Dr. Fino. "Talk to your doctor to see if he or she recommends them for you."

Multivitamins may also be helpful, adds Dr. Khan.

7. Ensure you have adequate levels of vitamin D

"Over 40% of individuals are deficient in Vitamin D, and there is emerging data on its association with infertility and worse IVF outcomes," says Tarun Jain, MD, medical director of Northwestern Medicine Fertility and Reproductive Medicine Oakbrook Terrace. "Ask your doctor to check your vitamin D level, and consider taking a vitamin D supplement."

8. Focus on persistence and patience.

"Many patients require more than one cycle of IVF to achieve an embryo for transfer and outcomes may vary significantly from cycle to cycle," says Shannon DeVore, MD, at NYU Langone Fertility Center. "If your first cycle wasn't successful, your doctor may be able to adjust the medications to optimize a subsequent one. Other times, it just means keeping at it. Try not to be discouraged by sub-optimal outcomes and setbacks—you are doing everything right. The single biggest thing to remember is that most (or all) of this is out of your control. Nobody likes a lack of control, but sometimes letting go can help you endure the journey. Take care of yourself and don't blame yourself when things don't go well. You are not alone, it often takes a village to build a family."

Increase Your Chances of IVF Success

what is IVF treatment

 IVF is a common treatment for people who are unable to conceive naturally

Usually, in IVF, the woman has medicines (fertility hormones) to stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs. The eggs are then collected and mixed with sperm in a laboratory.

IVF is carried out when the sperm quality is considered to be ‘normal’ If there are issues with the sperm quality such as low motility or numbers, a procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may instead be used – this is where a single sperm is injected into the egg by an embryologist

If fertilization is successful, the embryos are allowed to develop for between two and six days. This helps the embryologist to select the strongest embryo, which is then transferred back to the woman’s womb to hopefully continue to a successful birth.

Often several good-quality embryos will be created. In these cases, it's normally best practice to freeze the remaining embryos because putting two embryos back in the womb increases your chance of having twins or triplets, which carries health risks. You can use your frozen embryos later on if your first cycle is unsuccessful or you want to try for another baby.

What does IVF involve?

This process outlines a single cycle of IVF following the most commonly used procedure. You may find that your treatment is slightly different depending on your history and what your clinic thinks is best for you.

• Usually, the first step is to use medication to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs. There are different ways this can be done. One way is to suppress natural hormones before taking hormone medication to stimulate the ovaries. This treatment often called a long protocol, involves taking a daily injection or nasal spray to suppress hormone production. A scan checks the woman’s natural cycle is fully suppressed. If it is, hormone treatment (usually gonadotrophin) is started to boost the number of eggs the body produces.
• Some clinics may use the ‘antagonist protocol’. This involves taking medication (an antagonist) to suppress your hormones for a few days after you have taken the hormone medication (usually gonadotrophin) to boost the number of eggs the body produces.
• Whichever way the ovaries are stimulated to produce eggs, you will be closely monitored for a few days by the clinic. This may involve having blood tests or ultrasound scans.
• The eggs will be collected whilst under sedation or general anesthetic. The procedure takes around half an hour and you may feel a little sore or bruised.
• Whilst the eggs are being collected, the man will be asked to come to the clinic to produce a sperm sample, or your donor sperm will be taken from the freezer, for mixing with your eggs.
• Medication will help to prepare the lining of the womb. This is usually taken as a pessary or gel which you can insert yourself into the vagina/rectum.
• The eggs will be mixed with the sperm in a laboratory. The aim is for the eggs and sperm to fertilize to create an embryo.
• If fertilization happens, the resulting embryo(s), will be monitored to check how it’s/they’re developing.
• Two to five days after fertilization, the embryo(s) will be transferred to the womb. You won’t need any kind of anesthetic for this unless you have a condition that would make the procedure painful. You’ll be given a date to do a pregnancy test. Although you’ll understandably be excited at this stage, try not to do this early as you may get a false result.

Tips for a Successful IVF and Pregnancy

 Read an article on “tips for increasing fertility” and you’re bound to see something about the importance of lifestyle – typically diet and exercise. A wide range of studies shows a correlation between women with healthy weights and increased IVF success rates.

Exercise and IVF, however, is a trickier business. Too much exercise – particularly cardiovascular activity – seems to have an effect on reproductive hormone production, and that affects your ability to conceive.

Another challenge in determining “how much is too much” is that “exercise” for one woman is very different from exercise for another. The frequent low-impact walker exercises, as does the regular triathlete, as does the lifelong equestrian rider or rock climber. However, the intensity levels and risks associated with these various exercises are very different, and some are more conducive to a successful IVF cycle and a healthy pregnancy than others.

Take it Easy and Other Exercise Tips for IVF Success

After reviewing studies regarding exercise, pregnancy, and IVF success, we’ve found these 6 tips will help you achieve the healthy pregnancy and live birth you so anxiously desire.

1. Take it easy. That’s the most important and more general advice we can give to women who are pursuing IVF. We realize that taking it easy is a major challenge for women who are used to vigorous exercise. However, the more studies you review, the more you will see a correlation between increased physical activity and decreased rates of conception. If you are a regular runner, biker, marathon runner, or participate in workout regimens designed for moderate/advanced athletes, your doctor is probably going to tell you to take it easy while pursuing your fertility treatments.

2. Four hours or less. What does “take it easy mean?” Well, good question. A study, published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, reviewed IVF results for more than 2200 women over a nine-year period. Their conclusion was, “Women who reported exercising 4 hours or more per week for 1-9 years were 40% less likely to have a live birth and were almost three times more likely to experience cycle cancellation and twice as likely to have an implantation failure or pregnancy loss than women who did not report exercise.” These findings may inspire you to pare your routine down a bit during the months preceding, during, and after your IVF cycle to give you and your baby the best chance for success. Keep your cardio workouts to no more than 4 hours per week and fill in the gaps with lower-intensity options that still increase strength and flexibility, like yoga, water exercise, or tai chi.
3. Ditch high-impact anything. If your exercise of choice is high-impact, it’s time to put it on the backburner for a while. Any serious falls, injuries or impact to the abdominal wall can seriously compromise your reproductive health, especially if there is a freshly implanted baby in there, or if you are prone to miscarriages.
4. Prepare for “no exercise” during the week of egg retrieval. This isn’t because you shouldn’t (although you will want to take it easy), but more because you probably won’t feel like it. The fertility medications you’ll take, combined with some of their potential physical side effects – like bloating, fatigue, and mild discomfort – will make you feel more like lying down and taking a nap than going outside to run a few miles. This is A-OK, and we always recommend you listen to your body and not push anything. You are embarking on a very intricate and delicate process, so you don’t want to do anything that could compromise it.
5. Start finding other modes of stress release. For many women, regular exercise is as much about the stress relief and endorphin rush as it is about weight loss or overall health. If this is the case for you, start learning new ways to reduce or eliminate stress. What are some of the things you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t? Yoga, meditation, more outdoor time, a hobby or craft class, all those books you’ve meant to read but haven’t had time to? Now is the time to start fostering a relationship with other modes of stress release and “escape” so you won’t be so shell-shocked when you have to back off from exercising.
6. Take the long view. Perhaps one of the best pieces of advice for any situation in life is to “take the long view.” Your months, or even a couple years, of lower-impact exercise may seem like forever to you, but they’re really not. You are making a tremendous commitment – mind, body, soul, and wallet – to bring a baby into your life. The months you spend cutting back on excessive exercise now will be well worth the final results. Once you have your beautiful baby in your arms, you’ll enjoy nothing more than loading him or her up in your jogging stroller and getting back in shape. For now, just enjoy the miraculous process of transforming two single cells into a healthy, happy, miniature human being!

IVF and Exercise: 6 Tips for a Successful and Healthy Pregnancy

Improve Egg Quality and Boost Fertility

 

7 Tips to Improve Egg Quality and Boost Fertility

Women often ask if there is a natural or 'at home remedy' for boosting egg quality and improving fertility and the chances of pregnancy. Dr. Hirshfeld-Cytron explains what you can do to ensure that your eggs can be the best when preparing for conception.

1. Stay Away from Cigarettes.

Smoking permanently speeds up egg loss in the ovaries. The chemicals in cigarettes mutate the DNA in a woman's egg cells, making some of the eggs unsuitable for conception. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, and the number of eggs reduces with age, so it is best to keep eggs healthy and free of unnecessary chemicals.

2. Manage Stress.

Stress can produce hormones such as cortisol and prolactin that can interfere with or halt ovulation, which also hinders egg production. Stress-reducing activities such as yoga, meditation, exercise, or a warm bath can help keep stress and frustration at bay.

3. Eat Healthily.

Healthy foods improve overall health, this includes helping your eggs stay healthy and high quality, as well as improve overall fertility. Eat plenty of leafy greens, whole grains, lean meats, nuts, fresh vegetables, and fruits. Stay away from trans fats, refined carbs, processed foods or meats, and excessive salt and sugar.

4. Achieve a Normal BMI (body mass index).

Obesity has been linked to reduced fertility and decreased egg quality due to alterations of mitochondrial function and increased oxidative stress. Being overweight can also alter the hormonal balance, disrupting ovulation. A body mass index (BMI) between 18.5-24.9 is recommended to achieve pregnancy. To give you an idea of what that looks like, a woman that is 5’6” falls within a normal BMI with a weight range of 115-154 lbs.

5. Boost Blood Flow.

Good egg health is aided by oxygen-rich blood flow to the ovaries. Blood flow in the body can quickly decrease from dehydration, so aim to drink 64 oz. of water each day. Yoga is a healthy and relaxing way to improve blood flow, with poses such as the lotus pose, child’s pose, reclining hero, and seated forward bend offering a specific fertility benefit.

6. Invest in Supplements.

There is no need to break the bank on vitamins, but three low-cost options can help with egg health: Coenzyme Q10, melatonin, and fish oil. CoQ10 can boost mitochondrial function as well as antioxidants, improving the quality of eggs (200 mg, 3x daily); melatonin can boost antioxidants, encourage ovarian function, and aid in sleep (3mg each evening); and fish oil (EPA/DHA) can help produce higher quality eggs and help reproductive function in advanced maternal age (1200-1500mg EPA + DHA daily, do not exceed 3000 mg/day).

7. Freeze Your Eggs.

If you are planning on delaying motherhood, the best way to protect your fertility future is to stop your biological clock and freeze your eggs. With time, a woman’s natural fertility declines, but frozen eggs remain the same biological age as when they are cryopreserved, boosting your chances of future success.

Egg donation

Egg donation is a process in which a fertile woman donates an egg, or oocyte, to another woman to help her conceive. It is a part of assisted reproductive technology, or ART.

The procedure typically involves a doctor removing an egg or eggs from the donor, fertilizing them in a laboratory, and then transferring the resulting embryos into the recipient’s uterus. Doctors do this using an implantation procedure, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Sometimes, specialists at the facility may freeze some or all of the embryos for later use or implantation in different women.

Egg donation frequently benefits women who cannot use their own eggs for various reasons, including ovarian failure, avoiding congenital anomalies in the fetus, or advanced age.

One 2014 entry in the journal Fertility and Sterility suggested that 93 percentTrusted Source of all fertility centers in the United States offer egg donation. The same study indicates that the procedure results in a successful birth 49.4–50 percent of the time.

In this article, we look at the criteria for selecting donors, the procedure itself, and legal ramifications following an egg donation.

The clinic will conduct a thorough selection process for potential donors.

Specialists at the fertility facility will conduct an intensive selection process to find a suitable donor and will carefully run through the legal procedures.

Before starting the procedure, most donors will need to take medication that stops their normal menstrual cycle.

Side effects of this medication might include:

• hot flashes
• headache
• fatigue
• body aches

The donor will then take a series of fertility drugs that stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs at once. This is known as hyperstimulation. Donors will need to self-administer this medication by injecting it under their skin or into a muscle.

Some women may experience mild side effects, such as bruising at the injection site, mood swings, and tender breasts. In rare cases, a woman may develop severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). This occurs when too many eggs develop in the ovaries. Women who develop OHSS may require hospitalization.

Donors do have a risk of pregnancy before the eggs are retrieved, so it is a good idea to avoid intercourse or use a barrier contraceptive, such as a condom.

Throughout the donation cycle, a donor will undergo frequent blood tests and ultrasound examinations to monitor their reactions to the medications.

During extraction the eggs

Shortly before the retrieval of the eggs, the donor will receive a final injection in preparation for the procedure.

The doctor will perform a transvaginal ovarian aspiration to remove the eggs from the donor’s ovaries. They will insert an ultrasound probe into the vagina and use a needle to remove the egg from each follicle.

During the procedure, which lasts around 30 minutes, the doctor might give the donor painkillers, sedatives, or an anesthetic.

As this is a minor procedure, a donor will not need to stay at the clinic or hospital overnight.

After Egg Donation

Some women find they need several days of rest to recover from the transvaginal ovarian aspiration. Others return to normal activities the next day.

Some programs provide aftercare to donors, but others do not. As the egg donation process can have a psychological impact, some women may find it useful to work with a counselor or psychotherapist after the procedure.

How does the egg donation process work?

Egg donation cost in Iran

 

Egg donation in Iran

Infertility treatment centers in Iran since the late 1990s, along with the world’s advanced centers, have used egg donation to treat infertile couples who suffer from the low ovarian reserve or poor quality eggs. In addition to Iranian infertility couples, foreign couples can also use the egg donation services of infertility treatment centers in Iran to solve the problem of infertility. Every year, infertile couples from different countries such as Iraq, Oman, Turkey, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, UAE, etc. go to Iranian fertility treatment centers to solve their infertility problem and use egg donation in Iran.

 Egg donors are selected following certain principles and standards in Iran. Egg donation volunteers are consulted after various tests and physical health assurance; to ensure their mental health and readiness to donate. Donated eggs are examined in well-equipped Iranian laboratories, and quality eggs are selected for the next steps.

Egg donation cost in Iran

The cost of infertility treatment using donated eggs in Iran includes the cost of eggs and the cost of medicine, conventional tests, and the transfer of the fetus to the mother’s uterus. The cost of a donated egg service in Iran (IVF with donor eggs in Iran) is about 4,000 $. Egg donation service in reputable infertility treatment centers in Iran and high quality and world-class has an affordable price.

couples who want to select their baby sex can use PGD service for determining embryo gender. One of the PGD techniques uses is to determine the sex of the embryos before transferring to the uterus and pregnancy.

You can contact us to benefit from infertility treatment services using donated eggs in Iran & IVF with donor eggs in Iran.

We are with you to hug your beloved child. 

Gender Selection in Iran

Gender Selection

Gender Selection in Iran

A number of prospective parents inquire about the possibility of choosing the gender of their baby. Advances in reproductive technology have allowed  Fertility Centers in Iran to provide this exciting option to couples undergoing fertility treatment. We practice two methods to help prospective parents select the sex of their new baby – whether they choose to do so in order to help avoid gender-specific disorders or to better balance out their family.

What is gender selection?

Gender selection (also called sex selection) is a medical technique used by prospective parents who wish to choose the sex of their offspring. Gender selection is performed through sperm separation or genetic testing. The embryos with the desired sex are then implanted into the woman’s uterus.

How does gender selection work?

 PGS genetically tests the embryo for the presence of two X chromosomes (female) or one X and one Y chromosome (male). With PGS, the embryos are analyzed with almost 100% accuracy.

Why use gender selection?

Sometimes couples use gender selection to help prevent serious genetic diseases and chromosomal disorders that are gender-specific. For example, sex-linked diseases like muscular dystrophy and hemophilia that are inherited via the mother will only affect male offspring. In addition, conditions like Fragile X or autism often present more severely in one gender than in the other.

Other times, prospective parents turn to sex selection when they have a strong desire to complete or “balance” their family according to their own personal plans. There are also cases where a couple feels a psychological need to have a child of a certain gender, either because they feel better equipped to raise a child of that gender or because they lost a child previously.

What is the cost of gender selection in Iran?

PGS for a gender selection is an additional cost to the IVF cycle in the amount of $1000 for the first seven(7) embryos tested.

Each individual embryo tested beyond the first seven(7) (ex.9,10,11, etc,) is an additional cost of $120 per embryo.

Everything about Egg Donation

Why Use an Egg Donor?

The most common reason why single women and couples turn to egg donation is poor egg quality due to advanced maternal age. A woman’s egg quality lessens as she ages and significantly declines after age 37.

Who Uses Egg Donation?

• Couples in which the woman has poor-quality or no eggs, but who want a biological child using the male’s sperm
• Women with no ovaries but an intact uterus
• Women with genetic factors that they do not want to pass on to their children
• Women over the age of 42

There are many things to consider when thinking about using an egg donor. If you have a partner, start by exploring these questions.

Fact: The first known pregnancy achieved with a donated egg occurred in 1984. In 2016, the CDC reported approximately 9,000 births resulting from donor eggs.

Egg Donation Requirements

Egg donors undergo psychological and medical screening, which includes a thorough medical history, physical exam, and ovarian reserve assessment to determine if she is likely to be a good donor candidate. Egg donors are healthy young women, usually between ages 21 and 30.

Egg Donation Process

1. The egg donor gets hormone injections to induce ovulation of multiple eggs. Women naturally release one egg a month and the injections allow a large number of eggs to mature at the same time. Once her eggs are mature and ready for retrieval, her fertility doctor schedules the procedure.
2. The egg donor is put under sedation and her doctor uses an ultrasound-guided needle inserted into each mature follicle to retrieve each egg. The lab will attempt to fertilize several eggs in a laboratory using the recipient’s partner’s sperm or selected donor sperm. This process is in vitro fertilization (IVF).
3. An embryo (fertilized egg) is then transferred into the recipient’s uterus.

In a fresh transfer cycle, the donor and the recipient’s cycles are synchronized using medication.

In a frozen transfer, the embryos are frozen and typically transferred at a later time. Frozen transfers are sometimes utilized to perform preimplantation genetic screening for aneuploidy (an abnormal number of chromosomes).

If successful, the embryo will implant into the uterine lining and develop into a healthy baby.

Egg Donor Cost and Sources

Commercial egg donor agencies recruit, screen, and match healthy donors with couples and individuals. Many infertility clinics also offer donated eggs from couples who have produced excess eggs.

In some cases, the recipient may ask a close friend or relative to donate her eggs. Recipients may choose a fresh egg donation cycle or a frozen egg donation cycle (from a frozen egg bank).

Egg Donation Success Factors

Success depends on many factors, including the egg donor's age, retrieval process, quality of sperm, and the recipient’s overall health.

As with all third-party reproduction processes, recipients should seek counseling to explore emotional concerns and an experienced attorney to protect their, and their potential children’s, rights

everything about egg donation

Lifestyle tips for IVF

lifestyle and diet go hand-in-hand, for the success of your IVF outcome. Obviously, alcohol and smoking are counterproductive to your health, and the health of your baby, as are any other recreational drugs. If you’re feeling stressed try some of these healthy ways to cope, today and going forward.

Talk with a friend, or seek out a therapist who specializes in helping those undergoing fertility treatment. Ask your fertility team for a referral.

• Exercise, especially if you’ve maintained a fitness program for a while. But, as always, check with your physician first.
• Practice yoga and meditation. These ancient arts have calmed and centered people for centuries.
• Treat yourself! Schedule a day at a spa. A little pampering and self-care do wonder for the soul. And don’t leave it at the spa. Extend your feel-good self-care by taking regular bubble baths, scheduled therapeutic massages, and learn to listen to your body.
• Say no to outside stresses right now, including family gatherings and other social obligations, volunteering, extra work commitments, and even something as simple as doing the grocery shopping. Learning to say “not right now” is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself and your future family.

Lifestyle tips for IVF

make ivf successful

 In vitro fertilization or IVF, effectively treats many causes of male and female infertility. IVF can be an excellent option for many patients who have struggled to get pregnant with other fertility treatments. It is an especially successful treatment for women with tubal issues, endometriosis, or polycystic ovarian syndrome. For women of advancing maternal age, IVF is also very successful with the use of donor eggs. Men with low sperm counts and couples with inherited diseases also benefit from IVF.

IVF has been around since the mid-1980s to treat couples experiencing infertility. Back then, the chances of bringing home a baby after IVF was a dismal 10%, less than what you would expect from Mother Nature at about 20%. Today, over 190,000 IVF cycles are conducted in the U.S., with average live birth rates of over 32% for women of all ages. Younger women with younger eggs have even better success, with live birth rates approaching 50%.

What has accounted for this incredible increase in success with IVF? Most notably are the new techniques that have arisen over the last several years that offer the possibility of improving a patient’s odds of having a baby through IVF. Let’s take a look at some of these success-boosting techniques.

Assisted Hatching

Sometimes viable embryos do not implant in the uterine wall simply because they are unable to break free from their surrounding “jelly coat,” called the zona pellucida. We perform assisted hatching in the lab right before embryo transfer using a laser to create a hole in the zona. This allows the embryo to “hatch” and make contact with the lining of the uterus and implant.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection

We first used ICSI, or intracytoplasmic sperm injection, to treat cases of severe male factor infertility. In this technique, a single sperm is injected into the cytoplasm (interior) of the egg. Today, the use of ICSI is now routinely applied to a wide range of clinical situations whenever there is a possibility that fertilization may not occur. Such situations may include unexplained infertility or when frozen sperm samples survive their thaw poorly. Further, ICSI is used in any case where there is an extreme need to maximize normal fertilization, such as when a woman has only a few eggs retrieved.

“Freeze All Embryos” IVF Cycle

In the past, we preferred to perform fresh embryo transfers for most patients because the embryos had a better chance of implanting and developing into a baby than frozen embryos did. However, over the past several years, vitrification techniques for freezing and thawing embryos have improved so much that frozen embryos now have an equal or perhaps better chance of implanting than fresh embryos.

When there is a planned “freeze all embryos” IVF cycle, the developing embryos are frozen via vitrification and stored until they are transferred at a later time. This technique is especially beneficial for women at risk of hyper ovarian stimulation caused by the medications used to produce multiple eggs during the cycle. We have found that high hormone levels associated with ovarian stimulation might affect the lining of the uterus, making it less likely for the transferred embryos to implant. We see this particularly in patients who develop higher progesterone levels earlier in the ovarian stimulation cycle.

Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS)

PGS helps us answer the question of which embryos have the greatest potential to become a healthy pregnancy and baby. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, inheriting one copy of each chromosome from either parent. When sperm fertilizes an egg, it creates an embryo which should consist of 23 chromosomes from the mother and 23 chromosomes from the father. But often, embryos are created with too many or too few chromosomes. This is a major cause of miscarriage and increases dramatically with maternal age. One of the most common examples is Down Syndrome, or Trisomy 21, which is caused by the presence of a third copy of chromosome 21.

PGS gives the patient two advantages. First, it allows us to be 99% certain the embryo has the correct number of chromosomes thereby increasing the chance for a healthy pregnancy. Second, it allows the patient to transfer only ONE embryo thereby decreasing the chance of twins (which have a much higher rate of complications). The pregnancy rate of transferring just one embryo that has undergone PGS and is deemed chromosomally normal is the same as transferring two embryos that are not tested.

how to make IVF successful

Sex selection with IVF

 As Dr. Elena Trukhacheva, president and medical director of the Chicago-based Reproductive Medicine Institute, explains, once embryos are created in vitro, they are sometimes screened in order to choose the healthiest ones to implant into the mother's womb. Called Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), it's a complete chromosomal analysis of each embryo.

"The screening is in response to medical indications, such as multiple miscarriages or failed past IVF cycles, or advanced maternal age [over 35]," Trukhacheva says. "With a regular cycle, about 40 to 50 percent of implanted embryos will result in a healthy pregnancy. Using a screened embryo increases those chances to about 60 to 70 percent."

Trukhacheva says that if screening indicates that there are healthy embryos of both genders, about half of patients ask to choose the gender to the implant. Trukhacheva doesn't have an ethical issue with gender selection at this stage, particularly because she has not seen a pattern of discrimination against one gender. "It's usually an issue of balance, that the couple has two boys and would like a girl, or vice versa."

gender selection with IVF

The IVF success Factors

 Considering IVF Then it’s important to learn about IVF success factors that can help or hinder you're getting pregnant.

IVF Success Factor 1 – Age

Your age and using your own eggs are important IVF success factors to consider. While younger women have higher chances of IVF success, factors that reduce the chances of IVF success include being an older woman with fewer eggs and the lower quality of an older woman’s eggs.

In fact, the live birth IVF success rate for women under 35 who start an IVF cycle is 40 percent. However, women over the age of 42 have a 4 percent success rate.

IVF Success Factor 2 – Previous pregnancy

More IVF success factors to think about include whether or not you were pregnant previously and if it was with the same partner.

If you were pregnant previously with the same partner that’s currently undergoing IVF treatment, there is a greater probability of IVF success. Factors such as a history of recurrent miscarriage or a different partner may reduce the chances of IVF success.

IVF Success Factor 3 – Type of fertility problems

While some male infertility problems do impact IVF success, factors like uterine abnormalities, exposure to DES, or fibroid tumors also decrease the likelihood of success with IVF.

Very important to know: IVF success factors are dependent on ovulation. Ovarian dysfunction, like high FSH levels which indicate a low ovarian reserve, may reduce the chances of IVF success.  Factors that may lower pregnancy rates and reduce success with IVF include needing large amounts of ovulation stimulation drugs.

When both partners are infertile with lower chances for IVF success, factors such as the length of time you have been infertile are important to consider. The chances of IVF success decrease with the amount of time a couple has been infertile.

IVF Success Factor 4 – Use of donor eggs

Donor eggs are a significant consideration, especially if you are over 35-40, as there may be a higher rate of IVF success. Factors such as egg quality and age of donors are important. Using donor eggs from younger women may increase the chances of pregnancy for women over 40. 2011 findings show a 55 percent live birth success rate with a fresh donor egg/embryo transfer.

IVF Success Factor 5 – Lifestyle habits

Stop smoking if you want to improve your chance of having a baby. In fact, many times the woman is required to stop smoking at least 3 months before starting IVF treatment.

• Smokers require higher dosages of fertility drugs to stimulate their ovaries
• Smokers have lower implantation rates than nonsmokers
• Women who smoke require almost twice as many IVF attempts
• Women who smoke experience more failed fertilization cycles

More IVF success factors to mull over include losing weight if you are overweight or obese. Women who are overweight have an increased risk of infertility as well as miscarriage. Overweight women also have less IVF success with fertility treatments than women of normal weight. Underweight women are also at greater risk of having success with IVF. Bottom line: aim to stay within a healthy weight range.

IVF Success Factor 6 – Fertility clinic

The center you choose to perform the IVF treatment can greatly affect your IVF success. Factors to think about when reviewing the success rate of fertility centers include:

• The training and experience of the IVF clinic and staff
• The live birth rate per IVF cycles started
• The rate of patients pregnant with multiples (twins, triplets, or more)
• The laboratory used by the clinic and the qualifications of their staff
• The types of patients accepted at the clinic, more specifically their age and fertility problem

Keep in mind that some clinics are more willing to accept patients with a lower chance of IVF success or they may specialize in particular treatments.

Know  your IVF success factors as you plan to get pregnant

Remember, just as with any chronic illness, knowledge is power with infertility. The more you learn about specific IVF success factors, the more control you will feel about high-tech treatments that help you get pregnant and start a family.

IVF Success factors