FAQ

A diagnosis of infertility means you haven’t been able to get pregnant after a year of trying. Or, if you’re a woman over 35, it means you haven’t been able to get pregnant after six months. Women who are able to conceive but not carry a pregnancy to term may also be diagnosed with infertility.

Male: Low sperm count, Low sperm motility, Abnormal sperm, Excess Alcohol consumption, Mental Stress, Smoking, Overweight or Obesity.

Female: Age, Smoking, Overweight or Obesity, Excess Alcohol

For most patients, the injections aren’t pleasant, but they are quick and any discomfort is over in a few seconds. There are two kinds of injections that you will probably experience as you go through IVF. Some medications may give a slight tingling or stinging sensation as they are injected.

Specific steps of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle carry risks, including:

• Multiple births
• Premature delivery and low birth weight
• Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
• Miscarriage
• Egg-retrieval procedure complications
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Birth defects
• Ovarian cancer
• Stress

An egg retrieval typically takes place under some form of sedation, so you will not feel any pain.

If anesthesia is given, you will be sleeping and not feel anything during the procedure. Afterward, you may notice some cramping similar to menstrual cramping. The doctor may prescribe pain medication if needed.

For some people, persistence and the tincture of time solve the “problem.” For others, difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a baby to delivery can be overcome with medical assistance. If you experience any signs that might indicate impaired fertility, see your doctor or a fertility specialist.

The success rates of an FET cycle are comparable to fresh IVF cycles—and sometimes result in a higher success rate because of the opportunity to optimize the lining of the uterus before implantation, among other reasons. Both fresh and frozen cycles have the same primary indicator for success: the maternal age at the time of embryo freezing. Many patients wait several years between the initial freeze of their embryos and attempting a subsequent FET cycle. Any patient, no matter the amount of time between embryo freezing and thawing, can expect nearly the same potential for success as they experienced with the fresh IVF cycle that the frozen embryos came from.

Women 35 years and younger have over a 60 percent chance of pregnancy per transfer. This rate declines as the maternal age at the time of the freeze increases.

There are several options such as surrogacy, etc that should be decided upon after consultation with your doctor.

The IVF process is not a quick or simple one, and so after the embryo transfer has finally happened, it’s natural to worry about ruining it. A lot of the time, women feel anxious about getting up and moving around in case the embryo ‘falls out’. The natural instinct is to want to rest a while after the procedure, and this is completely fine! The most important thing to do is to listen to your body and do what it dictates.

Theprocess of embryo implanting usually takes place around the 6th day after fertilization of the sperm and egg. After the fertilization of the egg, the zygote slowly starts to slowly emit the hCG hormone. In the beginning, it’s measurements are so small that the hCG levels are not high enough to register on any pregnancy test (unless the IVF process used involves a starter hormone injection).

HCG levels double in amount every 72 hours and peaking at around 8 to 11 weeks of the pregnancy. This is why waiting for this hormone to grow can be agonizing, but at the same time is necessary.

While it is true that in IVF, the doctor inserts the embryo into the uterus of women through the cervix, the process of women getting pregnant hereafter is as normal as it happens in case of sexual intercourse between partners. One must understand that the ART technology that is used during the IVF treatment stands for Assisted Reproductive Technology, and not Artificial Reproductive Technology.IVF babies are as normal as other children. In fact, until one is told, it is impossible to distinguish between IVF baby and other children.

IVF is a little expensive but cheaper than many other surgeries. Its cost has, however,not risen in the last many years.

IVF or ICSI does not need hospital stay or any sort of surgery. During egg retrieval we give general anesthesia for 10 – 15 minutes and it is given by qualified anesthesiologist. Eggs are retrieved by simple needle under ultrasound guide.

You would need IVF if:

• Fallopian tubes are damaged
• Endometriosis
• Unexplained infertility
• Age – related infertility
• Risk of genetics diseases
• Infertility or recurrent pregnancy loss
• Low sperm count or motility
• Absent sperms in semen
• Poor ovarian reserve

Here is the breakdown for the IVF procedure:
Week 1: first visits and consultations
Week 2-4: preparation begins
Week 5: medication and monitoring
Week 7: triggering, egg retrieval, and fertilization

Typically, doctors advise the following

• Perform all those activities that will alleviate your stress levels and avoid those that will increase stress
• Try to avoid TV programs that can cause unnecessary stress – crime serials, police story types, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law serials etc.
• Physical activities which are overtly exerting like running long distances, strenuous work-outs etc. to be avoided
• Avoid unhygienic food. This is because if you catch any infections (food poisoning, fever, cold etc.), then treating that may impact the IVF related treatment plans.
• At home and at work, try not to take up responsibilities that may increase the work load and stress.
• Keep yourself well hydrated
• Try to be happy, watch movies and read books that make you happy. Do thing that will put a smile on your face
• If there is any other medicines that you are taking or planning to take, please inform your fertility doctor before taking them. It can be as simple as a tablet for headache or body pain. If you are on medication for asthma, hypertension, thyroid, diabetes etc., keep the fertility doctor informed and take that medication as per your fertility doctor’s advise.
• Keeping yourself physically active is important. There is no need for bed rest.
• Continue with your daily schedule keeping the above points in mind. Remember, if you are idle, then the mind gets an opportunity to over-analyze everything and create unnecessary stress.

Most individuals that have the In Vitro Fertilization procedure will keep trying until they are successful. There is no guarantee that the procedure will work after the first or second cycle. In fact, the procedure may not work at all; however, 50 percent of individuals and couples who have IVF are successful. Some couples are lucky after the first cycle, but a large percent are not. For this reason, you may need to keep on trying. The research suggests most couples will need approximately 6 embryo transfers before they achieve a pregnancy!

There are no limits to the number of IVF cycles you can have. This decision is entirely up to you and the fertility specialists. Of course you want to be healthy when you have the IVF cycles, or there is a higher chance of the cycle not being successful. Some couples have had more than 10 IVF cycles, while others have stopped after their first cycle – the decision is yours. You can decide on the number of IVF cycles you have, but you need to be aware of the out of pocket costs associated with IVF.