New evidence identified on safety of IVF embryo screening method

Posted on Dicembre 4, 2021 by Yiannis

Researchers at the University of Kent have identified crucial new evidence on the safety and efficacy of a controversial area of IVF treatment – preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A).

PGT-A is the screening for gross genetic (chromosomal) abnormalities in human IVF embryos with a view to improving IVF success rates and guarding against miscarriage. The UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) however recently assigned it a “red light” in terms of its safety and efficacy. The current study provides strong evidence for the benefits of PGT-A.
The, researchers used the HFEA’s own 2016-2018 data to examine live birth and other outcomes reported, with and without PGT-A. Statistical analysis of differences between PGT-A and “regular” IVF cycles was performed, grouping by maternal age, the leading known risk factor for chromosome abnormalities.

Data was gathered for nearly 2,500 PGT-A, out of a total of over 190,000 cycles in total. Live Birth Rate per embryo transferred and per treatment cycle was significantly higher for all PGT-A vs regular IVF age groups. In patients aged over 40, the reported live birth rates were 3-11 times greater when using PGT-A compared to regular IVF alone.
There was also a reduced number of transfers per live birth, particularly for women aged over 40, implying patients became pregnant faster if PGT-A was used.
Though the study identified strong evidence-based benefits of PGT-A, it is limited in matching with complete clinical indication information, PGT-A and non PGT-A cohorts.

PGT-A is a controversial process in IVF. Proponents argue that evidence suggests this treatment is effective and safe. Opponents argue that, until randomised clinical trials establish this unequivocally, patients should not be subjected to it; especially as this is a paid-for treatment.
On the basis of a traffic light system designed to assess the suitability of adjunct treatments for IVF, the HFEA previously assigned the process two Red Lights as a treatment whose efficacy and safety had not been established. This was recently changed to one red light.

Darren Griffin, Professor of Genetics at Kent and Lead Author on the paper said: ‘This data will hopefully aid the HFEA in their continual surveillance of the “Red traffic light” guidance that currently states there is no evidence that PGT-A is effective or safe. The guidance could be revised in the light of this new data for patient benefit. I appreciate the collegial way in which the HFEA have assisted in providing this data and their open-mindedness to the prospect of revisiting their guidance and traffic light system.’

Source: Obs Gynae &Midwifery News

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Stress and Infertility: Cause or Effect?

Posted on Marzo 27, 2019Dicembre 4, 2021 by Yiannis

Does stress affect fertility or is it infertility that has negative effects on psychology? Fertility experts indicate that there is a bidirectional relationship between stress and infertility. Most commonly, infertility is treated as a purely medical problem even though psychological aspects of it are perhaps equally important.

Fertility experts indicate that there is a bidirectional relationship between stress and infertility

Whether stress affects fertility or infertility itself is responsible for increased stress levels, has been a major conflict among fertility specialists for a long time and still remains a controversial issue. Research suggests that this is probably not a one way street; meaning that stress can impact fertility but infertility may also have mood effects in a drastic way.

At some cases of unexplained infertility (when a medical cause for infertility cannot be found and no successful outcome can be achieved even after IVF treatment), there might be a psychological factor that hinders natural course of conception. This is called ‘’psychogenic infertility’’ and is related to a deeper unconscious desire of preventing pregnancy.

It is true that the causal role of psychological disturbances remains controversial. However, there are mechanisms which could explain in theory how depression could cause infertility. These mechanisms involve the physiology of the depressed state. Since stress is related to similar physiology effects as depression, it is possible that high levels of it can more or less impact fertility.

An example of stress impact on female fertility is hyperprolactinemia. A condition at which prolactin over production inhibits ovulation and as a consequence impacts fertility. In less severe cases high prolactin levels may only disrupt ovulation once in a while.

On the other hand, it is known that infertility, as all chronic illnesses, could cause couples to experience high levels of cumulative stress which eventually can lead to more serious psychological disturbances like depression. Especially IVF treatment can be a highly stressful procedure for subfertile couples. For many couples IVF is their last chance of having a biological child and this can lead to severe emotional distress.

For all the above, perhaps a mind-body approach to fertility treatment could possibly help couples who struggle with infertility to deal with their problem in a more effective way. Mind body medicine could perhaps be beneficial, not only for those diagnosed with unexplained infertility, but to all couples who are trying to achieve pregnancy.

Do you think mind-body medicine could apply to you?

Homosexual Couples: Do They Have Access to IVF?

Posted on Luglio 13, 2018 by Yiannis

Nowadays, there is a large debate going on regarding same sex couples and whether they should have access to IVF. Bans on homosexual marriage are tumbled across the Western World and a growing number of same sex couples want to build a family, same way heterosexual couples do.

IVF experience for homosexual couples and typical couples seems to differ, according to homosexual people reports

It is not rare for homosexual men and women to want children. The problem is they have to deal with fertility limitations compared to typical straight couples. Nonetheless, gay parents are already out there and have been for some time. Studies estimate that there are about 594,000 same sex partner households in the USA and one in five same sex couples has children living in their households.

Some of them adopt while others have their own biological children. But how do they do the latter? Donor insemination and surrogacy are two standard ART options for same sex couples. Donor insemination involves using donor sperm. The donor can either be a known person, a friend for example, or an anonymous sperm donor from a sperm bank. Surrogacy applies to people who cannot carry a pregnancy so someone else does it for them.

For gay women an option for conception is one partner to donate the eggs and the other to carry the pregnancy. In that case IVF is necessary since fertilisation will take place outside the body in the lab, before the embryo can be transferred. However, intrauterine insemination is also available as a fertility treatment for lesbian couples; a far simpler treatment where IVF is not necessary.

And what about male gay couples interested in IVF? Gay couples will definitely need an egg donor and a surrogate who can carry the pregnancy. Fertilisation is accomplished by IVF using their own sperm.

But the question is how easy it really is for same sex couples to get access to these IVF treatments? There is no straightforward answer to this matter but, it appears that it is easier than it used to be, since legislative restrictions on surrogacy and egg donation are getting softer in time.

On the other hand, IVF experience for homosexual couples and typical couples seems to differ, according to homosexual people reports. There may be some states where surrogacy is fine for straight couples but not for homosexual couples, giving them a rough deal when it comes to fertility treatment.

Are you in favor of same sex couples building families?

Acupuncture help IVF success rates

Posted on Dicembre 13, 2017 by Yiannis

Nowadays, IVF has become the most common infertility treatment however its success rate is still relatively low. So how can the success rate of IVF be increased? Can acupuncture make a difference? Well according to research, acupuncture may actually be beneficial for couples undergoing IVF.

According to research, acupuncture may actually be beneficial for couples undergoing IVF

Acupuncture is an ancient therapeutic method, used quite often as a complementary medical practice, based on the use of very thin needles inserted in certain points of the body for treating various medical conditions. Acupuncture, it is believed to help treat medical conditions that affect fertility such as hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome, menstrual cycle irregularities and more.

Several studies in the past have pointed out that women who undergone an acupuncture program in parallel with their IVF treatment had greater success rates than women who did not do acupuncture.
According to one study by researchers at the Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine and the University of Maryland Center for Assisted Reproductive Technology , the VU University of Amsterdam and researchers from Georgetown University which involved a review of 7 clinical trials, women having acupuncture could significantly increase their chances of getting pregnant. Researchers analysed data from over 1.300 women who underwent IVF. They examined the effect of acupuncture given within one day of embryo transfer.

They compared these results with those of women given sham acupuncture and no additional treatment and found “acupuncture group” pregnancy chances increased by 65%. Women participated in the study were of different ages, they were all however given acupuncture sessions (lasted for 25 to 30 min) right before of right after the embryo transfer.

But how could acupuncture help increase fertility and IVF success rates?

According to experts acupuncture supports IVF by:

1. Regulating reproductive hormone levels including FSH and LH
2. Improving the immune system and well-being
3. Increasing utero-ovarian blood flow and consequently improving the quality of the endometrium, promoting embryo implantation
4. Improving the quality of the eggs, necessary for successful fertilisation

So, would you give acupuncture a chance?

Do Women treated with donor eggs pass on DNA?

Posted on Febbraio 20, 2017 by Yiannis

Do women treated with donor eggs pass on DNA to their babies? According to new research the answer is positive.

It has been previously shown by a study conducted at the University of Southampton that the environment in which an embryo grows, that is the womb environment, can affect the embryo’s development. According to experts that event is related to epigenetics. More specifically the embryo’s genes’ activity may be turned up or down in response to specific genetic factors present in the womb fluid of the woman.

But how is this related to infertile women treated with donor eggs? Well it was previously thought that the embryo produced by a fertilized donor egg would share characteristics of the father and the egg donor, not the woman in whom it was implanted. However, according to a recent study conducted at IVI Valencia, a Spanish fertility clinic and Stanford University, genetic material of the pregnant woman was detected into the womb fluid. Laboratory findings confirmed that these fragments of genetic material in the womb are actually absorbed by the embryo.

Researchers studied 20 women, reporting the presence of DNA and its influence on how the embryo develops. This could mean a lot for many women getting pregnant through IVF treated with donor eggs, as they can feel they actually contribute to their baby’s development. It is uplifting to know that their babies could actually get something from them even if it is not their eggs.

These findings may be the first step in elucidating the complex mechanisms underlying the womb environment effects on the development of the embryo. Scientists consider the data provided by this study as an amazing discovery, encouraging infertile women who used egg donation as an IVF treatment by revealing that their baby will eventually have some of their genetic material.

The study, published in the medical journal Development, was led by Dr Vilella and Dr Simon who commented that there are still a lot of things to discover regarding the effects of the mother’s genetic material and how it confers with the baby.

What do you think of this piece of information?

Would you consider it as an optimistic approach of Egg Donation treatment?

ERA test (Endometrial Receptivity Analysis) improves IVF implantation rates

Posted on Febbraio 2, 2017 by Yiannis

A novel IVF test, called ERA test (Endometrial Receptivity Analysis) , that assesses the activity of genes of the womb lining seems to improve successful implantation rates according to fertility experts.

Quite often you may hear patients undergoing IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) treatment wondering what is the reason of their failed IVF attempt: ‘’my embryos are of good quality, I am healthy, yet I did not get pregnant. Why?’’. A successful IVF outcome basically depends on two major factors: the embryo quality and the environment inside the womb that will host the embryo.

ERA test is used for designating the personalized ‘’implantation window’’

So what could be wrong for women with good, genetically healthy embryos? Endometrial receptivity, fertility experts believe. The endometrium is capable of hosting an embryo only during a time specific point of a woman’s cycle, completing a successful implantation. This time period is called ‘’implantation window’’.

It was previously thought that this ‘’implantation window’’ is stable among 19^th-21^st day of a woman’s cycle. Recent research however reveals that for about 25% of women with good quality embryos and IVF failures the implantation window has just been transposed in time without any apparent medical cause.

Thus, with ERA test this troubling event can be overcome as it is used for designating the personalized ‘’implantation window’’ for each woman, something that no other diagnostic test could tell before. According to a pilot study, ERA test findings from 85 women who had experienced at least 5 IVF attempts failed at the implantation stage, suggest that 20-25% of embryo transfers happen sooner or later than the optimum time for successful implantation. In the past the only study available for assessing endometrial receptivity was an ultrasound scan.

Researchers of the study reported that 33% of women given the test had a successful implantation. That is significantly higher than would typically be observed for this patient population. These data suggest that ERA test can improve successful implantation and promote a positive IVF outcome by pinpointing a woman’s optimum time for embryo transfer based on the individual results obtained.

Have you been given an ERA testing prior your IVF treatment, or would you ask for it for your next IVF attempt?

Embryo transfer media compounds boost IVF success rates

Posted on Giugno 26, 2016 by Yiannis

Current research suggests that specific compounds, called adherence compounds, when added into embryo transfer culture media boost IVF success rates.

Hyaluronic acid (HA), an adherence compound, can boost IVF success rates

Assisted reproductive technologies are generally considered to be successful medical procedures, but not successful enough. Couples diagnosed with infertility are commonly given an IVF (in vitro fertilisation) or ICSI (intracytoplasmisc injection) treatment. These treatments are the most successful forms of infertility treatments in IVF clinics and have similar success rates, however not successful enough given the increased demand for test-tube babies.

A great body of research is focused on studying how to boost IVF success rates while minimizing any adverse effects like multiple pregnancies. Part of this research has studied the effects of the addition of adherence compounds into the embryo transfer culture media.

Currently a scientific review analyzing 16 randomized studies on the above objective has reported that hyaluronic acid (HA), an adherence compound, can boost IVF success rates. Researchers compared embryo transfer media with different concentrations of the hyaluronic acid including high, low and no HA. As for the outcome most studies conducted their research by measuring live birth rates, pregnancy chances, implantation rates and multiple pregnancy rates. The women that took part in the studies aged 27.5-35.7 in average.

According to the review results hyaluronic acid increased IVF success rates in terms of live birth and pregnancy chances when added in the culture medium used for embryo transfer (450 vs 367). Fertility experts think that adherent compounds may actually increase the embryo potential for adhering to the uterus.

On the other hand, it was also found that the addition of the adherent compound increased chances of multiple pregnancies. Researchers argue that this result is probably linked to the number of embryos transferred by fertility doctors which quite often exceeds the 2 embryos. Thus, in such cases where more than one embryo is transferred into the womb, an adherent compound by promoting successful implantation could increase risk of a multiple pregnancy. Complementary studies investigating the outcome of using these enhanced transfer media for only single embryo transfer are necessary for optimizing these compounds’ contribution to a successful IVF outcome.

Would you risk a multiple pregnancy if it was to boost your pregnancy chances? We would be happy to receive your feedback.

Traveling abroad for Sex Selection

Posted on Aprile 27, 2016 by Yiannis

At the moment very few countries permits gender selection for non medical reasons

Thanks to the advances in fertility treatments that allow doctors to identify male and female embryos, sex selection of your baby is technically possible. More couples consider such an option now and a number of them are willing to go for it no matter the cost. As a matter of fact, a significant number of Australian couples travel to US every year to get this done. That’s a fact that has now made Australia to ponder sex selection.
Sex selection used to be an option only for couples who wanted to avoid passing sex-linked genetic disorders to their children. This has now changed since this option might also appeal to parents who have children of one sex and want to have a child of the other sex, what is commonly called “family balancing”. However, it is not always easy for parents since options aren’t equally effective, affordable, or available.
At the moment very few countries permits gender selection for non medical reasons, between them US, South Africa and Thailand. According to infertility doctor Daniel Potter Australian couples are looking towards the US for sex selective IVF technique and that has doubled in five years. Around 15 to 20 Australian couples visit his clinics in Southern California each month. “Typically it is women wanting to have a daughter, that’s 80 per cent of what we do,” he mentioned. The cost to get this procedure done is estimated to $15,000 per treatment, excluding the travel and accommodation costs.
This has sparked a debate whether the government should legalize the practice in the country since Australians are already selecting the sex of their children, but they are forced to go to overseas clinics, in places like the US or Thailand. Experts comment that this could be risky, because “not all international fertility clinics have the same standard of care that exists in Australia’’. Due to the rise in treatment, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is presently running a consultation about proposed changes to the existing law on sex-selective IVF. The fertility experts from US are also invited to speak on the controversial issue of sex selection in Australia.

Some people argue that gender selection process will eventually come to other genetic traits selection. Would you agree with them?

IVF Is Not Always Your Best Option

Posted on Ottobre 12, 2015Dicembre 4, 2021 by Yiannis

IVF is not always the best option for infertility treatment and it is highly recommended for patients to go through a thorough investigation in order to have a clear idea about why they need IVF.

Professor Robert Winston, one of the founding fathers of IVF, has recently published his new book, The Essential Fertility Guide, in which he outlines

fertility treatment options suggesting that IVF is not always your best option for infertility treatment.

For many people, there is no other experience that matches the birth of a baby. One in every seven couples in the UK struggle with infertility. There are various reasons for this and a number of treatments available for optimizing their chances of having a baby.

However, there is also a lot of misinformation out there about infertility treatment, so experts say people should be careful about which advice they heed. Especially in the private sector where expensive IVF, which only has a 25 percent success rate, is a highly profitable industry. The fact that a large number of patients address to private clinics for solving their infertility problems could perhaps explain why many people assume the best option for overcoming infertility is IVF (in vitro fertilisation), which according to Professor Winston is often not the case.

When patients meet with their doctor they are often surprised to learn that IVF may not be their first treatment option for infertility. In reality, IVF technique is used far too often before other, usually cheaper and less stressful options, are fully explored. For that reason, it is highly recommended for patients to go through a thorough investigation in order to find out the exact cause of their infertility and have a clear idea about why they need IVF. Prof. Winston adds that most of the infertile couples do not require such a complex treatment and often expectant treatment, ie. waiting to get pregnant, is likely to be more effective than IVF.

It is advisable for infertile patients to start with low tech treatments. Starting with the simplest, most affordable treatment options first and move up to more advanced treatments as medically indicated, is the best way to deal with it.”There are numerous causes of infertility,” says Prof. Winston, “and the best treatment may be different in each circumstance.

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is an example of a low tech treatment frequently requiring less medication and fewer monitoring appointments with a lower cost. Depending on the cause, other alternatives to IVF could be drug treatments to encourage ovulation, laparoscopic (minimally invasive) surgery or treatment for endometriosis.

Have you asked the right questions to your doctor?

Make sure you are properly tested to identify the cause of infertility and choose the best treatment option for you.

Gattaca film. Three parents one baby

Posted on Ottobre 8, 2015 by Yiannis

UK is the first country where mitochondrial donation IVF can now be tested

Many scientists from all over the world believe mitochondrial donation IVF, also

referred to as “three-parents” in vitro fertilization (IVF), has the potential to prevent the disease’s transmission.

Every year over 4,000 children in the US are born with a mitochondrial disease like muscular dystrophy, Leigh’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. In the UK this affects around 3,500 people; at least 1 in 200 children are affected by mitochondrial DNA disease, and while many will be asymptomatic or have mild, late-onset or undiagnosed problems, around 1 in 6500 children are diagnosed to more serious mitochondrial disorders. It now appears that a novel IVF technique can possibly decrease the number of people with such a disease in the future.

Mitochondrial diseases are caused by harmful mutations in mitochondria – energy-generating organelles in the cells.

These mutations stop the mitochondria from converting the energy of food and oxygen into ATP that powers the cells’ functions. This mitochondria dysfunction can impact the heart, brain, muscles, lungs and other parts of the body. Inherited mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are an important cause of genetic diseases for which there is currently no cure. For that reason the development of a preventing strategy is vital.

Three parents – Mitochondrial donation is a new technique based on IVF that involves replacing the dysfunctional mitochondria in a mother’s egg with healthy mitochondria from the egg of a female donor.

However this method has not been tested in humans yet and for this to become possible new regulations are needed to allow the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to permit the application of these techniques. Earlier this year, Parliament agreed to new regulations by voting in favor of a change in the legislation governing UK genetic research. That makes the UK the first country where mitochondrial donation IVF can now be tested in the clinic. Muscular Dystrophy UK funded the early development of this technique, and campaigned for many years for this change in the law.

Despite the overwhelming support for the three parents method as the only way to prevent such a disease, there are still some people opposing to the legalization of mitochondrial donation arguing that this could eventually lead to deliberate modification of the babies’ physical traits in the future, paving the way for ‘’designer babies’’.

So what about the ethical aspects of a method that mixes DNA from 3 different people to create a baby?

Is it successful the frozen embryo transfer?

Posted on Settembre 22, 2015 by Yiannis

There are studies suggesting a higher implantation rate with frozen embryo transfer

Since the first live births following cryopreserved human embryo transfer were announced in 1984 and 1985, the use of frozen embryo replacement has increased worldwide. Since that time, the original protocols have been modified and developed such that cryopreservation may lead to successful survival of up to 80% of the embryos frozen.

The last decade has witnessed a dramatic improvement in frozen embryo transfer and successful IVF rates. The size of the improvement has now lead to equal pregnancy rates for frozen/thawed and fresh embryo transfer as a new report on assisted reproductive technology in Australia and New Zealand has announced. More specifically, birth rates have been increased at about 25% in IVF cycles using cryopreserved embryos over the last five years, compared to fresh embryo transfer where birth rates remained steady (23%). The development of rapid freezing techniques, known as vitrification, versus the ‘’older’’ slow freezing technique has greatly contributed to that improved outcome.

Unsurprisingly, the report also found that in the five years leading up to 2013 the percentage of frozen embryos used in IVF cycles has increased from 39% to 45%. This is probably due to the fact cryopreservation increases the total reproductive potential of assisted reproductive technology, expanding the treatment options for the patients.
As previously mentioned, results obtained with cryopreserved embryos are as good as those obtained when transferring fresh embryos. However there are studies suggesting a higher implantation rate with frozen embryo transfer. This could possibly be explained by the fact that pregnancies following a frozen embryo transfer are more similar to natural conception pregnancies than fresh embryo transfer cycles.

Would you go for a frozen embryo transfer

on the advice of your doctor?

10 IVF myths

Posted on Settembre 17, 2015 by Yiannis

Many people think of IVF as the answer to all infertility problems

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) as an infertility treatment could not but be accompanied by its fair share of myths.The contribution of IVF and generally Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in the rapidly growing field of
medical technologies and healthcare services, available for disease treatment and life quality enhancement, is undoubtedly unique.

There are studies suggesting a higher implantation rate with frozen embryo transfer

However, many people think of IVF as the answer to all infertility problems. Others believe that IVF is a treatment of high cost, affordable only for a small number of people such as business people or movie stars.

Here is a list of most commonly believed IVF myths:

Myth #1: IVF always results in multiple pregnancies like twins or higher-order multiples

FALSE: The risk for a multiple pregnancy can be decreased by reducing the number of embryos transferred, especially in young women.

Myth #2: Patients undertaking an IVF cycle have no control over the outcome of the treatment

FALSE: The success rate of an IVF cycle is highly dependent on a thorough evaluation of the couple and a careful coordination of both a medical and a scientific approach for each couple. There are a number of things IVF specialists have to deal with in order to optimize the chances of a pregnancy such as ovarian stimulation monitoring and timing of oocyte retrieval.

Myth #3: IVF is the answer to all infertility problems

FALSE: Depending on the case of infertility for each patient there are more options for treatment like Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI) and ovulation induction (OI) with medications.

Myth #4: IVF is only for wealthy people

FALSE: Though the cost of IVF is not low, it is not less affordable than some major procedures like heart surgery or joint replacement.

Myth #5: IVF increases women’s fertility

FALSE: Technically, IVF does the opposite. The hormones that are taken at the beginning of a cycle are made to stop a woman’s natural fertility process. Then the next round of hormones creates a synthetic cycle for optimizing the chances of pregnancy.

Myth #6: IVF babies have a significantly high risk of birth defects and malformations

FALSE: Even though some evidence seem to indicate that there may be some increased risk for birth defects in babies born through IVF, current studies suggest that the difference in the incidence of birth defects between naturally conceived and IVF babies is not high significant.

Myth #7: IVF requires admission in the hospital

FALSE: It does not require overnight admission. It is an out-patient treatment.

Myth #8: IVF is the last resort for infertile couples

FALSE: IVF is only one of the options available for infertility treatment, but in cases where IVF is not applicable there are other types of Assisted Reproductive Technology that work for patients like egg donor, sperm donor or surrogate.

Myth #9: Insurance covers IVF costs

FALSE: Usually there is no fertility insurance coverage but it is advisable to check with the insurance company before starting an IVF treatment.

Myth #10: IVF is successful in all cases

FALSE: Unfortunately this is not true; IVF is successful in up to 40% of cases. Multiple factors contribute to IVF success rates including the age of the woman.

Tag: #ivf

New evidence identified on safety of IVF embryo screening method

Stress and Infertility: Cause or Effect?

Do you think mind-body medicine could apply to you?

Homosexual Couples: Do They Have Access to IVF?

Are you in favor of same sex couples building families?

Acupuncture help IVF success rates

So, would you give acupuncture a chance?

Do Women treated with donor eggs pass on DNA?

What do you think of this piece of information?

Would you consider it as an optimistic approach of Egg Donation treatment?

ERA test (Endometrial Receptivity Analysis) improves IVF implantation rates

Have you been given an ERA testing prior your IVF treatment, or would you ask for it for your next IVF attempt?

Embryo transfer media compounds boost IVF success rates

Would you risk a multiple pregnancy if it was to boost your pregnancy chances? We would be happy to receive your feedback.

Traveling abroad for Sex Selection

Some people argue that gender selection process will eventually come to other genetic traits selection. Would you agree with them?

IVF Is Not Always Your Best Option

Have you asked the right questions to your doctor?

Make sure you are properly tested to identify the cause of infertility and choose the best treatment option for you.

Gattaca film. Three parents one baby

So what about the ethical aspects of a method that mixes DNA from 3 different people to create a baby?

Is it successful the frozen embryo transfer?

Would you go for a frozen embryo transfer

on the advice of your doctor?

10 IVF myths

Here is a list of most commonly believed IVF myths:

Myth #1: IVF always results in multiple pregnancies like twins or higher-order multiples

Myth #2: Patients undertaking an IVF cycle have no control over the outcome of the treatment

Myth #3: IVF is the answer to all infertility problems

Myth #4: IVF is only for wealthy people

Myth #5: IVF increases women’s fertility

Myth #6: IVF babies have a significantly high risk of birth defects and malformations

Myth #7: IVF requires admission in the hospital

Myth #8: IVF is the last resort for infertile couples

Myth #9: Insurance covers IVF costs

Myth #10: IVF is successful in all cases

Any more IVF myths to add?