If you and your partner have been having trouble conceiving, you’ve no doubt done some research into what opportunities are available to you. For many couples, in vitro fertilization provides the solution needed to start their families. As you may know, in vitro fertilization is the most popular assistive fertility treatment in the world. It accounts for 99% of such procedures and about 1.5% of babies are born via IVF.

The success rate of in vitro fertilization is influenced by a number of factors, just like a natural conception would be. Everyone responds differently to things and there are ways to bolster the odds of success. The typical in vitro fertilization procedure has about a 50% success rate. If this seems low to you, keep in mind that the probability of natural conception for the typical fertile couple isn’t terribly higher.

When talking about in vitro fertilization, it’s important to understand the details of the procedure and what decisions will be made throughout the process. One such important detail is the use of different kinds of embryos. Or, rather, the different ways embryos are handled. When talking about IVF, the discussion often comes up about the benefits of using frozen embryos in comparison to fresh embryos. One’s initial reaction might be that fresh embryos have to produce better results because we often associate “new” as better. But, that’s actually not the case when it comes to IVF. It turns out frozen embryos are actually the preferred choice. Here is what you need to know about embryo storage and IVF procedures.

IVF and the usage of embryos

It would be helpful to give a brief explanation of the IVF process and how embryos play a part in it. Whether you’re using your own eggs or a donor’s, the actual fertilization will take place outside of the body and in a lab. Once there is a viable embryo, it is then introduced into the woman’s body where it will hopefully be carried through a healthy pregnancy.

That’s the simple description of what IVF is. One key part to keep in mind, though, is the hormonal treatments and ovary stimulation that takes place if it’s your eggs that will be removed for fertilization. In order to bring eggs to maturation quickly, this stimulation is required. Once it’s determined the eggs are ready for the next phase, they are surgically removed. This is a minor surgery, however, and twilight anesthesia will be employed. It’s important to note this because that hormonal treatment is one of the factors that can contribute to fresh embryo vs frozen embryo success rates as we’ll see shortly.

Fresh embryo usage

The hormone treatment process outlined above would be followed by a fresh embryo transfer in the days following the initial egg removal procedure (typically within three to five days). Otherwise, the embryos are frozen for usage at a later date. Fresh embryo transfers have been in use for decades and clearly there is a satisfactory level of success since they are still performed.

There are acknowledged benefits of opting for fresh embryo transfers over frozen. The primary one is that, assuming you have success with this first attempt, you won’t need to go through another round of stimulation therapy at a later date. With frozen embryos, there is still a need for mild hormone therapy in order to properly prepare the body for the introduction of the embryo. So, you could be looking at going through treatment twice, once for producing the embryos (ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval), and the second for the actual transfer of the embryo(s) (frozen embryo transfer cycle). However, it’s important to note that the second treatment, which involves the preparation of the uterus for implantation, is much milder in comparison to the initial ovarian stimulation. However, since hormone treatment can be expensive and individuals respond differently to it, only going through hormone treatment once can be considered a big benefit to many.

Why frozen embryos yield better results

Certain clinical situations require freezing of embryos to avoid a fresh embryo transfer. For example, if a patient is at risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), all embryos are frozen to avoid a fresh embryo transfer and exacerbation of the syndrome. If the uterine lining is suboptimal for implantation during the stimulation of the ovaries, all embryos are frozen, and at a later date the uterine lining is optimized during a frozen embryo transfer cycle. Additionally, if a couple chooses genetic testing of the embryos with preimplantation genetic screening and/or diagnosis (PGS/PGD), embryos are frozen to allow time for the genetic testing. Even without any of the above clinical indications for freezing, as far as successful treatment goes, frozen embryos do perform better than fresh ones. Again, hormones are an important factor. It is believed that because frozen embryos would be used long after the egg stimulation hormone therapy is done, the woman’s body would have returned to a natural state hormonally speaking. This better mimics the natural conception process which can yield a higher chance of success. Specifically, recent studies have shown better implantation rates, better live birth rates, higher birth weights, lower miscarriage rates, and lower ectopic pregnancy rates following frozen as compared with fresh embryo transfers. Additionally, being able to plan ahead with the use of frozen embryos allows the woman to undergo the embryo transfer procedure at the ideal time.

Conclusion

Few things are as emotionally trying as being unable to conceive. At California Center of Reproductive Health, we understand that. That’s why we are dedicated to providing you with the care you need to start a family of your own. If you’ve been having difficulty over the past year getting pregnant, contact us today to schedule an appointment. Our team is here to help you identify a reason for your difficulties and provide the treatments necessary to overcome them.

When it comes to planning for one’s reproductive future, women have two major options that differ quite a bit from one another: egg freezing and egg donation. Two different paths depending on what it is you’re looking to accomplish, but important to know about. The process for each is similar, but the question you will have to ask yourself is “what are you hoping to accomplish?” Do you hope to keep your eggs preserved for later in life when you’re ready to start building a family? Do you want to provide a couple that is having difficulty conceiving some hope by giving them one of your eggs while you’re at the prime age? Maybe you’re even interested in both.

While you would want to speak to a medical professional who is a fertility specialist about these procedures, it’s always good to go into your appointment with some basic information about the procedure you may be interested in. If you are a woman in good health and in the prime years for childbirth looking to plan for the future, here are the facts you need to know pertaining to both egg freezing and egg donation.

The process for both

Once you and your doctor confirm that one of these procedures is right for your particular situation and would help you achieve your goals, the process will begin to get you prepared for the procedure. What you need to know is that hormone injections will be involved. This often lasts only a couple weeks. Often patients think this will be a months long procedure, but that’s not true. It’s rare to experience an overwhelmingly negative reaction to hormonal treatment. But you may experience some minimal side effects. Everyone responds differently.

Once your doctor determines that the time is right to retrieve the eggs that have been matured through the hormone treatment process, you’ll come in for the procedure. Note that this is somewhat invasive. It is considered a low-risk procedure, however. Anesthesia will be used. Once the eggs are successfully removed, they will be moved to a laboratory for next steps. If that’s freezing, they will be stored. If it’s for donation, then they will move on in the process of getting matched with a family in need. This process won’t impact your ability to naturally have children afterwards.

Why opt for egg freezing?

More and more women are opting to freeze their eggs and are doing so at younger ages than ever. This leads one to wonder why. If you’re a woman who isn’t currently with a partner that you want to start a family with or you’re in the midst of completing a degree or navigating a career, it’s probably obvious to you why you’d want to freeze your eggs. It’s for peace of mind. It’s so you can feel a bit better knowing you’ll have a chance to have a child of your own even if it’s a bit later in your life and on your own terms.

The vast majority of women who choose to freeze their eggs do so voluntarily. Now is simply not the right time for them and they would prefer to have the option in their later years without running the risk of it being too late. This is completely understandable. But in some instances, you may choose to freeze eggs out of necessity. For example, if you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, the treatments involved could trigger premature menopause. In that instance, you would be unable to naturally have a child. If you’ve received a cancer diagnosis, egg freezing increases your chances of being able to have a child after successful treatment.

What does egg donation entail?

Egg donation is a wonderful way to help a family struggling as they try to have children, but are encountering difficulty. This could mean helping women who would have been good candidates for egg freezing earlier in life, assisting women who have medical conditions that make it impossible or very difficult to have children naturally, or helping a same-sex male couple have a biological child. No matter who ends up getting your eggs, it’s a great way to make a positive impact in some else’s life.

Conclusion

If you’re a woman who is in the biologically prime years of her life to have a child, but you’re not necessarily looking to have one now, there are options available to you as far as planning for your future or helping another family in need. The process is fairly involved, which is why you’ll want to speak with your doctor as soon as possible to see what the next steps are. Contact us today. The team at California Center for Reproductive Help is here to help you achieve your goals when it comes to your future.

Being unable to naturally and easily conceive a child so you can start the family you’ve always wanted is a painful and often complicated experience. There is a lot of trying, a lot of dead ends, and a feeling that your situation is unfair. And that’s just for heterosexual couples. LGBTQ couples face their own challenges when pursuing their desire of having a biological child. The good news is medical advancements have come such a long way that more and more couples (and individuals) are finding that there are options available to them that can help during this difficult process. Many of the conditions that make conception difficult can be circumvented with the right kind of fertility treatment.

Because there are entire clinics dedicated to fertility and there are so many treatments offered, it can be dizzying trying to figure out what procedure would be best for you. The short answer is only a doctor can tell you that, though you can do research on your own. Only a doctor can give you the full evaluation required to determine where in the process you are having your difficulty and what treatment course would be right for your situation. However, supplying yourself with the facts is helpful and that’s why you should learn more about the most popular fertility treatment that has been refined and used for years: in vitro fertilization.

What does the process look like?

When you visit a fertility center and it is determined by your doctor that in vitro fertilization is for you, you should expect a multi-step process that takes some time to complete. What essentially happens is the natural process of conception gets bypassed via the laboratory in order to avoid some of the common medical reasons in the process where there could be difficulty or complications.

Once the treatment begins, there will be a period of the woman taking hormones so that there is a stimulation effect in her ovaries. The goal during this initial part of the treatment is to encourage the ovaries to produce several eggs. This part generally takes about a week with nine days being the expectation. A simple outpatient procedure will be performed next that will remove the mature eggs from the woman for the next phase. Twilight anesthesia will be administered for this.

The actual fertilization takes place in the laboratory. Sperm from the woman’s partner or a donor is mixed with the eggs until a successful incubation occurs. With this new viable embryo ready, another procedure will take place where it is placed directly into the uterus so it can attach to the uterine walls and begin the process of a regular pregnancy.

Why is it used?

In vitro fertilization in combination with embryo transfer is the most commonly used fertility treatment for couples experiencing difficulty conceiving and for same sex couples. There are numerous complications that IVF is used to circumvent. Some of the common reasons that effect many women, especially in their 30s and 40s, include endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and premature ovarian failure. There are also issues related to the male that IVF is used to circumvent, particularly impaired sperm function. If this is determined to be the reason, the male will certainly want to investigate the cause of this further to eliminate the possibility of underlying health issues.

In the instance of a same sex couple trying to have a biological child, the reason for opting for IVF is rather obvious. The combination of donors and gestational surrogates will obviously be different depending on each individual scenario, but it’s the most clear and effective way to ensure a pregnancy occurs using the genetics of one of the biological parents.

What to expect

When it comes to medical care, and fertility treatments in particular, it’s important to be realistic and to temper one’s expectations. There are no guarantees, though technology has advanced to such a degree that success rates are always increasing. For now, in vitro fertilization has about a 40% success rate per-cycle. However, it’s important to keep in mind that in relative terms, the success rate is high when you consider there is only about a 15-20% chance of naturally conceiving during a month for the typical young and fertile couple. Don’t let percentages dissuade you. IVF is your best chance if a medical condition is currently leaving you unable to naturally conceive.

Conclusion

If you have been having difficulty conceiving or you’re ready to start a family and need help, it’s time to speak with a medical professional that specializes in fertility issues. Contact us today. Dr. Eliran Mor  and the team at California Center for Reproductive Health is here to help you through the entire process with courtesy and professionalism. Get help finding your happiness today.

Life moves fast, especially here in California. The past decade has brought an incredible amount of progress. We’re lucky to live in times where LGBTQ couples have access to the services they need to plan for the future and have happy, healthy families. While a fertility center has always been the place for couples or individuals looking for assistance starting a family, there have never been more resources available for people in the LGBTQ community looking to have children. That’s why it’s important to get the facts when beginning the planning stages of starting your family. There are many services available and it can be overwhelming getting all of the information sorted. Because this should be the happiest time of your life, we want to make the process as easy as possible for you.

There are a variety of options available to you depending on your individual situation. Obviously, everyone will have different needs or preferences for how they go about the process. Of course, no matter what solutions or treatments interest you, ultimately you’ll want to speak with your doctor. Only your doctor can set you on the right course of treatment that will help you achieve your goals while also keeping you healthy. Here is some of the general information on fertility treatments LGBTQ couples or individuals should have so they can make an informed decision.

In Vitro Fertilization

Ultimately, no matter which procedural path you end up taking, you’ll likely end up at a point where in vitro fertilization will come into play. IVF is the most common form of assisted reproductive technology.  It is more or less the cornerstone of family planning for LGBTQ couples, whether a female parent chooses to carry the child or a gestational surrogate is used. Technically, the entire procedure is a combination of IVF and embryo transfer. This is a two part procedure.

First, a woman’s ovaries are stimulated via hormones which will cause several eggs to grow over the period of about a week. Once it is determined that the eggs are mature, they will be removed with a minor surgical procedure that will require twilight anesthesia. Eggs are then fertilized in a laboratory setting with sperm provided by the patient’s partner or with sperm taken from a donor. Secondly, after satisfactory incubation, the embryo is then transferred into the patient or gestational surrogate to carry to term. IVF is a leading procedure for both LGBTQ couples and for women who have difficulty with their pregnancies because the procedure avoids many of the processes of a pregnancy where something may difficulties may be encountered.

Gestational surrogate

There are obviously several scenarios where a gestational surrogate would be used. Clearly, if two men are looking to have a child, a female third party would need to come into play. Other reasons include a woman not being able to have a child for any reason or, simply, a surrogate is preferred. To circle back to IVF for a moment, it’s important to point out that the gestational surrogate will have no biological “bond” with the child because both sperm and egg will come from some combination of the parents and/or a donor. For emotional and legal reasons, this is important. The IVF-ET process is completed and the surrogate has the baby for the intended parents.

Egg Donation

Egg donation may be part of the process. It certainly will be if a male couple is looking to have a biological child. Of course, a female couple may also go through this process if both women have complicating factors that would make natural pregnancy difficult. Egg donation can be used in combination with a gestational surrogate depending on your individual situation. The process will be completed via IVF-ET.

Egg donation has high success rates. Compared to other assisted reproductive technology treatments, egg donation has typically higher conception and live birth rates. Egg donors are carefully screened with a variety of exams to ensure the greatest chance of having a healthy child.

Other concerns

The process can take some time from beginning to end, and we don’t just mean waiting the nine months! There is a deep emotional investment in seeking out assistance when trying to start a family. That’s why no matter the situation, we are dedicated to providing you with the utmost care so that you end up with the most important thing: a happy and healthy family.

Conclusion

California Center for Reproductive Health is the fertility clinic in Southern California that will meet all your needs while treating you with friendly professionalism while in our care. If you and your spouse or partner are ready to begin a family, we encourage you to contact us today. Whether you have questions, concerns, or you’re ready to set up a consultation, we’re available. Dr. Eliran Mor and team are here to help you every step of the way.