You have that dreaded infertility diagnosis, “Over 40 With High FSH Levels.” And there’s no cure or magic herb that will turn back the hands of time. You’re desperate so you are willing to try it all anyway, including acupuncture and some internet recommendations such as DHEA (dehydroepiendosterone).

You hear that you can lower your FSH with DHEA or estrogen. The fact is, however, elevated FSH levels do not cause a problem with conceiving. They are merely a marker of diminishing ovarian reserve, a depletion of ovarian follicles and eggs that, combined with increasing age, means you have very few genetically normal eggs available in your ovaries to achieve a healthy child.

Reproductive endocrinologists typically counsel “Over 40 With High FSH Levels” patients that their chance of successfully achieving a live birth using their own eggs is small and that by using a donated egg from a young, fertile woman they can increase their odds of giving birth to greater than 70 percent per donation. Unfortunately, this comes as a shocking disappointment to most women. It’s often a reason for them to drop out of a doctor’s practice or even quit trying to conceive.

So what do you do when faced with this situation? Your answer needs to be individualized, based on your emotional and financial resources, your motivation and your comfort with using a donated egg.

At our clinic, we try to come up with a strategy with our patients that includes counseling to begin the discussion about donor eggs, as opposed to trying with less chance for successful outcome using a patient’s own eggs, or stopping therapy completely and adopting or living child-free.

Perhaps you will choose a low tech option such as insemination with or without hormonal therapy. Sometimes, the plan will be to blast ahead with the big guns using IVF with full stimulation or with less medication and cost using MicroIVF or Minimal Stimulation IVF. Some patients respond better to different stimulations such as sensitizing with estrace or even DHEA prior to stimulation, using a lupron flare or even using clomid in combination with gonadotropins. Unfortunately, it is hard to predict what will be the optimal stimulation for you until we give it a shot.

The bottom line? There’s no right or wrong choice for you. Remember, a family can look many different ways and still be a healthy, loving unit. Your physician, nurses and counselors are available to assist you and support you with whatever decision you make.

Perhaps it’s unfortunate that fertility doctors have to be so concerned about their patient’s pocket books unlike other fields of medicine that are usually covered by some measure of insurance.  But in the case of infertility with only a handful of states having some kind of mandated coverage – not everybody in the United States -  mandate or no mandate for infertility  -even has health insurance!  Many fertility patients are in some form or another “cash pay” patients.  One of the most popular places that patients visit when they go to any fertility clinic’s website is the finance page.  This is simply a fact of life.

For this reason I have developed many programs that will create access to fertility care for as many people as possible.  But here is the catch! One program does not fit all. These are simply not over sized tee shirts – each of these programs represent a certain course of  medical care – and each individual and couple needs the assistance of a caring doctor to help them choose the right program that will fit their own particular medical history.  In addition to the NY State DOH Grant Program and our own East Coast Fertility Grant Program, we have the Micro-IVF Program, The Money Back Guarantee Program,  and The Single Embryo Transfer Program.  The most effective treatment and the most efficient is always a full stimulation IVF. However, if someone has insurance coverage for IUI and meds but not IVF then they may prefer to do IUI. If they do not have coverage for IUI either then it may be more cost effective to do the Micro-IVF Program or minimal stimulation IVF at 2-3 x the success of IUI with less risk than gonadotropin IUI and less cost per pregnancy. Yet at a price of $3900 it may be more attractive than a full stimulated IVF. There is also The Single Embryo Transfer Program where we reward patients transferring one embryo at a time by making their cryo, embryo storage and unlimited frozen embryo transfers for free.  Others prefer the insurance of The Money Back Guarantee Program where patients are offered six IVF retrievals and frozen embryo transfers for a fixed fee that is refunded if they do not result in a live birth.   In order to inform patients about our success and programs that make IVF more available to them we offer free consultations.

In today’s world of fertility care – a good doctor will help a patient find not only the right treatment but how to access that care.  In order to do that – a doctor may have to do what some may think is unseemly – and that is to talk about money.

The IVF Guarantee Program works by making it easier for patients to commit to a multi-cycle treatment package — which increases the likelihood of success. The East Coast Fertility Program is unique in offering up to six stimulation and retrieval cycles as well as unlimited frozen embryo transfers until a live baby is born for an upfront, fixed and discounted fee*.    If a live birth occurs then the fee is retained.  If treatment does not occur in a live birth, 100% of the fee is refunded, leaving couples with resources for other family building options.

To qualify for this program, patients must be self-pay patients and be considered appropriate candidates for IVF, as determined by East Coast Fertility.  Candidates will undergo a detailed review of their infertility and medical history.

The cost of this program varies depending on the woman’s age, history and exam. Other variables within this program, including those costs not included in the program, should be discussed with the Financial Counselor at East Coast Fertility.

Egg Freezing Study

East Coast Fertility provides sliding scale grants including the NYS DOH grant that are based on income.  In addition, East Coast Fertility is conducting a research study on egg freezing.  Patients participating in this study obtain free medication and get free ICSI, cryopreservation, embryo storage and frozen embryo transfers as well as co culture, assisted hatching and embryo glue.  Half the eggs are used in the study and half are treated in the usual IVF fashion.  The eggs in the study are frozen, thawed 1-2 hours later and inseminated.  These embryos are transferred in the stimulation cycle.  The embryos created in the usual IVF fashion are frozen for transfer in a subsequent cycle if pregnancy is not achieved.  Patients may return for frozen embryo transfers for free until a live baby or embryos are exhausted.  The IVF, ICSI, meds, cryo and frozen embryo transfers typically costs well over $20,000.  The cost to a patient accepted for the ECF grant for the entire study program is $6900.

Other innovative cost saving programs at ECF include the Single Embryo Transfer (SET) Program, where for the standard single cycle IVF fee; cryo, embryo storage and unlimited frozen embryo transfers are offered for free.  MicroIVF is a minimal stimulation IVF program offered for $3900 and may be combined with SET program.

According to Dr. David Kreiner, Medical Director of East Coast Fertility, “My wish is to assist all patients in need with creating that healthy family of their dreams without adding unnecessary risk.  These programs help them in their quest.”

East Coast Fertility also offers convenient, low interest rate financing for all the IVF Programs. To learn if you are a candidate for any of the discount IVF programs at East Coast Fertility, please call us at 516-939-2229 to make an appointment for a consultation.

(*Note: certain restrictions apply and should be discussed with the Financial Counselor at East Coast Fertility.  Anesthesia and medication costs are not included in the program).

Happy New Year! If you are like my patients, this traditional holiday wish/greeting is a heartfelt hope, a wish that 2010 will bring you the family of your dreams. In the very least, your most important resolution for the new year is to build the foundation for that family you always assumed you would have.

But, how do you get started when it isn’t happening on its own?

First, if you are thinking about getting pregnant get a check up! Get your pap done – go to the dentist – have your blood pressure and lipids checked. I’m not an expert on the art of motorcycle maintenance, but our bodies, like machines, go through wear and tear and, as a result, occasionally are not operating at optimum capacity.

Here’s what needs to happen for a life to be created. Millions of sperm need to traverse the cervix (which needs to have adequate watery mucus for the sperm to swim through to get to the uterus) and, from there, to the fallopian tubes where, enmasse, the sperm gang release digestive enzymes that help bore a hole through the egg membrane. Your egg needs to be healthy and mature, picked up by the finmbria, the fingerlike projections of the fallopian tube and swept along the length of the tube by microscopic hairs within the tube. The environment of the tube needs to allow for fertilization with penetration by only one of the sperm, followed by division of the fertilized egg into a multicellular embryo. While the embryo continues to grow and cleave and develop ultimately into a blastocyst containing the future fetus (inner cell mass) and placenta (trophoblast) the tubal microhairs continue to sweep the embryo ultimately into the uterine cavity.

The lining of the uterus, the endometrium, must be prepared with adequate glandular development to allow the now hatched embryo to implant. Yes, there is a shell surrounding the embryo that must break in order for the embryo to implant into the uterine lining. Inflammatory fluid, polyps, fibroids or scar tissue may all play a role in preventing implantation.

Oy, it’s amazing this ever works!

In fertile bodies of good working order, this all works an average of 20% of the time!

So . . . how do we get our bodies in optimal shape to maximize our chance of conception?

Check on medications that you may be on. Can you stay on them while trying to conceive? Guys need to do this too! Some medications may affect ovulation or implantation. Prostaglandin inhibitors found in common pain relievers can affect both ovulation and implantation. Calcium channel blockers commonly used to control high blood pressure may affect your partner’s sperm’s ability to penetrate and fertilize an egg.

How is your diet? Is your weight affecting ovulation and preparation of your uterine lining either because it is too high or too low? Do you have glucose intolerance that is leading to high levels of insulin in the blood that affects your hormones and ovarian follicular and egg development? Perhaps you would benefit from a regimen including a carbohydrate restricted diet, exercise and medication to improve glucose metabolism.

Make love. Sex is critical to reproduction, obviously but I am often asked how often and how to time as if it need be a schedule chore. This is a bit tricky as it is vital that while we reproductive endocrinologists are assisting our patients to conceive we want to preserve the relationship that provides the foundation on which we want to build their family. I try not to give patients a schedule until they are in an insemination cycle where we actually identify the precise day of ovulation. I recommend spontaneous lovemaking that in cases of normal sperm counts (which should be analyzed as part of that check up) should average at least every other day in the middle of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Ovulation, typically occurs 14 days prior to the onset of her menses. Sperm survive anywhere from 1 day to 7 days in a woman’s cervical mucus varying both on the sperm and the quality of her mucus which for some women is optimal for only hours if at all. Eggs survive 6-8 hours. Therefore, when we perform insemination it is better if we inseminate prior to ovulation rather than after as we the sperm have more time to sit around and wait for the egg than visa versa.

See an RE. When all else fails, it is recommended that you consult with a reproductive endocrinologist if you have not conceived after one year before age 35 and six months if you are 35 or older. The treatments available to the specialist are extraordinarily successful today and should ensure that for the great majority of you, 2010 will be a very happy new year.

What Do You Know About Fertility Screening?

Statistics and general truths aside, every woman is unique. Given just how complicated it is to make a baby in the first place, understanding your own body’s reproductive capability and the changes it might undergo from year to year is an invaluable planning tool.

Consider an annual fertility evaluation or screening.
Simply put, the screening involves a few simple blood tests and an ultrasound to assess your ovarian function. These tests have been around for years and are tried and true tools in the assessment of fertility.

We propose using these tests as a screen to prevent future infertility. We recommend that annual screening begin at 30 years of age or earlier if you have irregular menses, hot flashes, difficulty conceiving after 6 months or a family history of early menopause or infertility.

Taken together with your individual and your family’s medical histories, fertility screening helps establish where you are on your personal fertility curve. The first screening establishes your baseline, subsequent annual evaluations will flag changes in key hormone levels and mature follicle and egg production that could signal potential trouble. Mind you, any warning flares are just that and may mean nothing. But they could indicate that follow-up with your doctor, gynecologist or a reproductive specialist is warranted. And if there’s a problem, you’re ahead of the game with the opportunity for early intervention and, where possible, corrective action.

Fertility screening can help identify women whose ovarian function is diminishing so they can get timely treatment. The fact is, some women in their 30’s prematurely age from a reproductive perspective and their fertility may look more like that of a woman in her 40’s.

What Does the Screen Involve?

The screening itself is fairly low-tech.

Part one consists of a blood test to check the levels of FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), estradiol and AMH (antimullerian hormone). The FSH and estradiol must be measured on the second or third day of your period. The granulosa cells of the ovarian follicles produce estradiol and AMH. The fewer the follicles there are in the ovaries the lower the AMH level. It will also mean that less estradiol is produced as well as a protein called inhibin. Both inhibin and estradiol decrease FSH production. The lower the inhibin and estradiol the higher the FSH as is seen in diminished ovarian reserve. The higher the estradiol or inhibin levels are then the lower the FSH. Estradiol may be elevated especially in the presence of an ovarian cyst even with failing ovaries that are only able to produce minimal inhibin. However, the high estradiol reduces the FSH to deceptively normal appearing levels. If not for the cyst generating excess estradiol, the FSH would be high in failing ovaries due to low inhibin production. This is why it is important to get an estradiol level at the same time as the FSH and early in the cycle when it is likely that the estradiol level is low in order to get an accurate reading of FSH.

Part two is a vaginal ultrasound to count the number of antral follicles in both ovaries. Antral follicles are a good indicator of the reserve of eggs remaining in the ovary. In general, fertility specialists like to see at least a total of eight antral follicles for the two ovaries. Between nine and twelve might be considered a borderline antral follicle count.
As you start to screen annually for your fertility, what you and your doctor are looking for is a dramatic shift in values from one year to the next.

What Does the Screen Indicate?

A positive screen showing evidence of potentially diminishing fertility is an alarm that should produce a call to action. When a woman is aware that she may be running out of time to reproduce she can take the family-planning reins and make informed decisions. The goal of fertility screening is to help you and every woman of childbearing years make the choices that can help protect and optimize your fertility.

Although none of these tests is in of and of themselves an absolute predictor of your ability to get pregnant, when one or more come back in the abnormal range, it is highly suggestive of ovarian compromise. It deserves further scrutiny. That’s when it makes sense to have a discussion with your gynecologist or fertility specialist. Bear in mind, the “normal” range is quite broad. But when an “abnormal” flare goes off, you want to check it out.

It’s important to remember that fertility is more than your ovaries. If you have risk factors for blocked fallopian tubes such as a history of previous pelvic infection, or if your partner has potentially abnormal sperm, then other tests are in order. And if, for example you do have blocked tubes, it’s better to have them corrected sooner rather than later when the becoming pregnant is an urgent matter.

Learn More About Your Fertility

Also, make sure you read Part I of our series, What Do You Know About Your Biological Clock?

What Do You Know About Your Biological Clock?

Women have a biological clock. Everyone knows that. The problem is that a lot of the information people think they know about their fertility and reproduction is not true. The blurring of fact, opinion, myth and misunderstanding makes for a treacherous misinformation landscape. The knowledge gap has claimed millions of victims, people who learned about their limited reproductive lifespan too late to help them have the genetically linked offspring they always assumed would be theirs. Armed with essential and accurate information, you don’t have to join their ranks.

What is still not understood across the board is the time line of the biological clock. Most women don’t have a clue about their own.

So, we’re asking the question: What do you know about your fertility? Over the next three days we’ll be learning a lot more about it.

But, right now, if you’re like most people, the answer is not as much as you might believe. Just to give you a little perspective, a spate of recent surveys reveals that the overwhelming majority of U.S. women:

• The trajectory of reproductive capabilities peaks in a woman’s early-to-mid-20s and begins to decline, typically, around 27.
  However wonderfully youthful and fit a 42-year-old might be, her eggs are operating on an independent and fixed timeline.
  The stark truth is women at that age are more likely than not to require medical intervention.
  Sleep, diet, exercise and environment can all impact your fertility.

• Don’t understand the biological clock.

• Mistake overall good health as an indicator of fertility.

• Believe they can get pregnant easily until their 40s.

• Don’t know that lifestyle factors can have a profound effect on the ability to have a child.

This basic information can make a critical difference in the life of every person who dreams of having a child. If you know about your body’s reproductive lifecycle, you can take steps to protect and preserve your fertility and have the children you want – if and when you choose.

Statistics and general truths aside, every woman is unique. Given just how complicated it is to make a baby in the first place, understanding your own body’s reproductive capability and the changes it might undergo from year to year is an invaluable planning tool.

Marking Time: The Biological Clock and You

Each woman’s oocytes (eggs) supply is finite. That means the body doesn’t produce new ones. So the 7 million or so eggs each female is born with is all she’s going to have. By the time the average girl hits puberty, only about 250,000-300,000 oocytes remain in her ovaries. With each menstrual cycle one egg is released, and an additional thousand eggs each month are lost through a process called artresia, the natural breakdown of the eggs by the body. After ovulating an average of 400 times through her life, typically at around 50 years of age, the store of oocytes is tapped out. That’s menopause.

Then there’s the matter of oocyte aging. Eggs age along with the rest of the body. The older oocytes are more likely to have chromosomal abnormalities making them unlikely to become viable embryos. It’s important to note that a fertilized egg with abnormal chromosomes is the single most common cause of miscarriage. As a general rule, women in their 20s have about a 20% chance of having a miscarriage each time they become pregnant, a woman in her 30’s has a 30% chance, and a woman in her 40s about a 40% risk of miscarriage.

The bottom line is the older we get, the less likely we are to conceive and have a successful pregnancy. Fertility starts to decline when a woman is in her 20’s but when she hits 35, it take a sharp downturn. At 40, fertility falls off even more dramatically.

Of course, some women in their late 30s and a few in their 40s conceive effortlessly, and carry and deliver healthy babies. But the likelihood of that happening without medical intervention becomes more remote with each passing year.

For women under 30, the estimated chance of becoming pregnant in any one cycle is between 20% and 30%. When women turn 40, that probability plummets to approximately 5%. Even more significant is that when a woman experiences difficulty conceiving in her 40’s it is a far greater challenge to achieve a live birth using her own eggs even with the best medical technologies.

Learn More About Your Fertility

So, the good news is, there are some steps you can take to preserve your fertility and stay on top of your biological clock.

We’ll be back with:
Tomorrow: Fertility Screening for Your Reproductive Life

It has become commonplace for women who have been frustrated with repeated unsuccessful attempts to conceive naturally on their own to see their gynecologist who often times will try clomid therapy on them. Clomid, the traditional brand name for clomiphene citrate, is a competitive inhibitor of estrogen. It stimulates the pituitary gland to produce follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) which in turn will stimulate the ovaries to mature follicle(s) containing eggs. Estrogen normally has a negative effect on the pituitary: Clomid blocks estrogen and leads to pituitary FSH production and ovarian stimulation.

Infertility patients — those under 35 having one year and of unprotected intercourse without a resulting pregnancy and those over 35 having six months without pregnancy — have a two to five percent pregnancy rate each month trying on their own without treatment. Clomid therapy increases a couple’s fertility by increasing the number of eggs matured in a cycle and by producing a healthier egg and follicle. The pregnancy rate with clomid therapy alone is approximately ten percent per cycle and 12 -15 percent when combined with intrauterine insemination (IUI). Women who are unable to ovulate on their own experience a 20 percent pregnancy rate per cycle with clomid, the equivalent to that of a fertile couple trying on their own.

Clomid and Your Cervical Mucus

Women who are likely to conceive with clomid usually do so in the first three months of therapy, with very few conceiving after six months. As clomid has an antiestrogen effect, the cervical mucus and endometrial lining may be adversely affected.

Cervical mucus is normally produced just prior to ovulation and may be noticed as a stringy egg white like discharge unique to the middle of a woman’s cycle just prior to and during ovulation. It provides the perfect environment for the sperm to swim through to gain access to a woman’s reproductive tract and find her egg. Unfortunately, clomid may thin out her cervical mucus, preventing the sperm’s entrance into her womb. IUI overcomes this issue through bypassing the cervical barrier and depositing the sperm directly into the uterus.

However, when the uterine lining or endometrium is affected by the antiestrogic properties of clomid, an egg may be fertilized but implantation is unsuccessful due to the lack of secretory gland development in the uterus. The lining does not thicken as it normally would during the cycle. Attempts to overcome this problem with estrogen therapy are rarely successful.

Side Effects

Many women who take clomid experience no side effects. Others have complained of headache, mood changes, spots in front of their eyes, blurry vision, hot flashes and occasional cyst development (which normally resolves on its own). Most of these effects last no longer than the five or seven days that you take the clomid and have no permanent side effect. The incidence of twins is eight to ten percent with a one percent risk of triplet development.

Limit Your Clomid Cycles

Yet, another deterrent to clomid use was a study performed years ago that suggested that women who used clomid for more than twelve cycles developed an increased incidence of ovarian tumors. It is therefore recommended by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine as well as the manufacturer of clomiphene that clomid be used for no more than six months after which it is recommended by both groups that patients proceed with treatment including gonadotropins (injectable hormones containing FSH and LH) to stimulate the ovaries in combination with intrauterine insemination or in vitro fertilization.

Success Rates

For patients who fail to ovulate, clomid is successful in achieving a pregnancy in nearly 70 percent of cases. All other patients average close to a 50 percent pregnancy rate if they attempt six cycles with clomid, especially when they combine it with IUI. After six months, the success is less than five percent per month.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a successful alternative therapy when other pelvic factors such as tubal disease, tubal ligation, adhesions or scar tissue and endometriosis exist or there is a deficient number, volume or motility of sperm. Success rates with IVF are age, exam and history dependent. The average pregnancy rate with a single fresh IVF cycle is greater than 50 percent. For women under 35, the pregnancy rate for women after a single stimulation and retrieval is greater than 70 percent with a greater than 60 percent live birth rate at East Coast Fertility.

Young patients sometimes choose a minimal stimulation IVF or MicroIVF as an alternative to clomid/IUI cycles as a more successful and cost effective option as many of these patients experience a 40 percent pregnancy rate per retrieval at a cost today of $3,900.

Today, with all these options available to patients, a woman desiring to build her family will usually succeed in becoming a mom.

Reading these “news” stories one may get the impression that Fertility is a thriving business bearing little resemblance to the medical specialty of reproductive endocrinology requiring seven years of post medical school training. The medical pioneers Drs. Steptoe and Edwards in the UK and Drs. Howard and Georgeanna Jones Jr. in the US envisioned a world in which couples inflicted with the curse of an inability to procreate, would, with the benefit of this technology that they developed, give these couples the ability to build their own families. They were excited that as the technology improved and became more efficient and the cryopreservation of embryos became routinely available that risky multiple pregnancies could be eliminated. They believed that insurance companies would pay for an IVF benefit that had a high success rate and could deliver healthy singleton pregnancies with far greater confidence than any alternative treatment especially intrauterine inseminations (IUI). They were unhappy that in the early years when IVF was inefficient, many embryos needed to be transferred in order to give a patient a reasonable chance for success. This resulted in multiple pregnancies, many of which delivered prematurely requiring expensive neonatal intensive care and unfortunately many did not end well. Today, we have control over this with IVF by transferring one embryo at a time but not with IUI.

They also did not believe that women should be subjected to the medications, blood work and retrieval process without a fair chance for a successful outcome. The idea of subjecting a 49 year old woman to IVF for what may be a 1% chance of conception with a greater than 50% chance of miscarriage is not medically reasonable. Women of this age have a 70 to 80% chance for conception through egg donation. This is how the 50 something celebrities are getting pregnant. They are not using their own eggs. Misleading the public with news stories that feature these older pregnant celebrities gives patients the misconception that they too can create their families at the same age using their own eggs.

We have recently performed IVF on two perimenopausal patients with FSH levels over 50 at age 45 after days of counseling regarding the extreme low odds of pregnancy and a live birth. In both cases, they felt they needed to give it one shot before moving on to egg donation. They had one follicle each and both resulted in pregnancies with a gestational sac seen on ultrasound. One has since miscarried and will now move on to egg donation where her odds of having a live baby jump from less than 5% to 60% per attempt. The other remains pregnant and is miraculously the exception to the rule.

IVF is a medical procedure that is part of a proud tradition of reproductive endocrinology. It is a medical treatment that can cure one of the cruelest maladies known to man, the inability to have a child. This problem is featured in the bible with several references including from the woman’s perspective with Hanna weeping for a baby of her own. The Old Testament proclaims the commandment to procreate. This is part of the human condition. Does it not make sense then that insurance companies provide the financial coverage to allow IVF, a treatment that can be controlled by transferring one embryo at a time to result in a singleton pregnancy? Regulations to prevent costly dangerous multiple pregnancies and the performance of IVF in patients with unreasonably low odds of success need to be instituted. Financial programs that make it no more expensive to patients to transfer one embryo at a time such as our Single Embryo Transfer program at East Coast Fertility need to be the news highlight of the day not the 49 year old who conceived on her sixth try.

You’ve already crossed the bridge from “We’re going to get pregnant!” to “We need help…” But this other side looks filled with more obstacles, including expensive and risky fertility medications.

How far do you have to go just to have a baby?

Micro IVF (sometimes called MiniIVF) may be your answer.

The primary point of MicroIVF: fewer fertility drugs, less cost.

Plus you get additional benefits: decreased chances of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and of multiple pregnancy.

Additionally, East Coast Fertility patients who choose MicroIVF can increase their savings if they also use our Single Embryo Transfer Program — embryo freezing, storage, and future frozen embryo transfers are free.

Why go Micro?

I learned long ago that pregnancies of twins, triplets, and more can bring heartache to what should be a joyous journey for fertility patients. So the ECF team has dedicated our practice to the achievement of safe, healthy pregnancies.

IUI or IVF?

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is often considered the first order of business for many infertility patients.

Sometimes called “artificial insemination,” the usual protocol — oral and injectable fertility medications to induce superovulation (of more than one egg in a cycle), followed by insemination via exam room procedure — is believed to be simpler and, therefore, less costly than IVF.

That’s just not true any longer.

The facts now are that success rates can be far better for IVF than for IUI, depending on the individual’s or couple’s cause of infertility. Many women undergo several IUI’s before achieving conception.

Some infertility causes — pelvic adhesions/scarring, blocked fallopian tubes, endometriosis, and severe male factor issues — will not respond to IUI but are treatable with IVF.

Even patients who would otherwise try IUI to get pregnant will find that choosing MicroIVF can result in cost savings and greater safety:

Micro IVF fee (current as of July 2009): $3900

ICSI (if required): $1000

Anesthesia (as requested): $550

IUI with hormone injections: $3500 to $4500

Is MicroIVF right for you?

Each patient’s case is considered carefully and individually. The following are conditions that might respond best to MicroIVF:

Young healthy women with PCOS or who otherwise produce many follicles

Women with pelvic adhesions or scarring, blocked fallopian tubes, or endometriosis

Couples with severe male factor infertility

MicroIVF really is a case of a little treatment going a long way! With it, you can access the world’s most successful assisted reproductive technology at far less cost.

A prophylactic salpingectomy or tubal ligation may be performed laparoscopically, using a tubular scope placed through the abdominal cavity to look inside the pelvis. Other instruments are placed through the lower abdominal wall and are used to remove the tube or close off the tube entrance to the uterus. Laparoscopy is performed under general anesthesia in the hospital.

Recently, the use of a contraceptive device, Essure, has been used to obstruct flow of the inflammatory fluid from the hydrosalpinx into the uterus. The Essure is a small coil that is inserted hysteroscopically through a woman’s vagina without cutting into the fallopian tube. It takes 3 months to induce adequate scar closure of the tube and is as effective as a tubal ligation. A hysterosalpingogram is performed after the 3 month period to prove adequate damming of the flow of inflammatory fluid. This procedure may be performed in an office based surgical unit and is sometimes performed without anesthesia.