"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
I can nearly hear your sighs. One of the hardest parts about infertility and its treatment is the need for perseverance. Many of my patients who are now parents will tell you that even more than peaceful patience, going through infertility treatment and keeping your sanity requires maintaining a heavy dose of "hang in there".
Recently, Australian researchers concluded that the likelihood of IVF success increases with each cycle. This is especially true for mothers-to-be who are older than 35, but even for younger women, going through an average of three IVF cycles boosts success rates up to 58 percent.
Granted, this makes common sense in a way -- the more you try something, the greater the odds you'll succeed eventually. But this isn't the first bit of research that hints at something more: the treatment learning curve and the artful practice of medicine.
of course, as Dr. Rosen points out at the end of the article in BioNews, the likelihood of success per cycle decreases, and eventually an end to treatment attempts may need to be considered for some patients. I'll discuss that seemingly paradoxical point in a future blogpost.
For now, I'll leave you to consider the reality that, yes, for many fertility patients who choose IVF, it takes more than one treatment cycle to get pregnant. As I mentioned in my last blogpost, coming to grips with treatment realities is a kind of loss. Perseverance is a good trait to muster. And when you run out of your own, borrow some from a loved one or friend. Keep trying.
More to come...
~ Sonja Kristiansen
Showing posts with label in vitro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label in vitro. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Embryo Dilemma
Recent news reports brought up again the ongoing questions surrounding embryo creation via IVF. Actually, the questions aren't so much about the creation side of things as they are about disposition of extra embryos.
As reproductive medicine specialists, we have focused mostly on the best ways to help individuals and couples conceive biological children. Success is very often a matter of numbers: the more eggs a woman ovulates, the more sperm a man has available, the more embryos created... the greater their chances at getting pregnant.
For years now, we specialists have been boiling down the science and finely tuning the techniques toward the ultimate goal: how best to unite only as many eggs and sperm necessary to create only as many embryos needed to make one healthy baby.
Single embryo transfer is a true possibility for some patients, but almost a pointless, expensive protocol for others.
At this point, it remains common for IVF patients to wind up with at least some "extra" embryos -- that is, too many embryos to transfer within the same treatment cycle -- so the question of what to do with the surplus continues to be answered.
In the study recently published in Fertility & Sterility, more than 1,000 infertility patients were surveyed about the choices they've pondered and made to address their own embryo surpluses.
Among other things, the survey results reveal a broad consensus of disappointment -- with the options offered at various clinics and with the level of pre-IVF information made available to them.
Fertility treatment centers are like any medical practice: filled with professionals who are people first. Different practices have varying policies based on many factors, including the personal beliefs of the professionals. Another component that steers clinic policies is the availability of resources.
Patients and professionals need not have all their beliefs in common, but there are sometimes "bottom lines" that patients use to make their choices about which fertility practice to turn to for assistance with getting pregnant and about which treatments to use. In the past, some practices were so results-driven, so focused on success rates, that even crucial issues like the disposition of surplus embryos were side-stepped or, at least, addressed with as much brevity as possible. The dilemma of extra embryos is very real and can no longer be seen as ancillary.
I'll discuss specific related options for patients of Houston Infertility Clinic in a follow-up blogpost.
As reproductive medicine specialists, we have focused mostly on the best ways to help individuals and couples conceive biological children. Success is very often a matter of numbers: the more eggs a woman ovulates, the more sperm a man has available, the more embryos created... the greater their chances at getting pregnant.
For years now, we specialists have been boiling down the science and finely tuning the techniques toward the ultimate goal: how best to unite only as many eggs and sperm necessary to create only as many embryos needed to make one healthy baby.
Single embryo transfer is a true possibility for some patients, but almost a pointless, expensive protocol for others.
At this point, it remains common for IVF patients to wind up with at least some "extra" embryos -- that is, too many embryos to transfer within the same treatment cycle -- so the question of what to do with the surplus continues to be answered.
In the study recently published in Fertility & Sterility, more than 1,000 infertility patients were surveyed about the choices they've pondered and made to address their own embryo surpluses.
Among other things, the survey results reveal a broad consensus of disappointment -- with the options offered at various clinics and with the level of pre-IVF information made available to them.
Fertility treatment centers are like any medical practice: filled with professionals who are people first. Different practices have varying policies based on many factors, including the personal beliefs of the professionals. Another component that steers clinic policies is the availability of resources.
Patients and professionals need not have all their beliefs in common, but there are sometimes "bottom lines" that patients use to make their choices about which fertility practice to turn to for assistance with getting pregnant and about which treatments to use. In the past, some practices were so results-driven, so focused on success rates, that even crucial issues like the disposition of surplus embryos were side-stepped or, at least, addressed with as much brevity as possible. The dilemma of extra embryos is very real and can no longer be seen as ancillary.
I'll discuss specific related options for patients of Houston Infertility Clinic in a follow-up blogpost.
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