Is it true that I can do IVF if I want to?
No. The treatment of infertility should follow the principles of diagnosis before treatment, simple before complex, and cheap before high cost. There are principles for treatment, but not the more expensive, the better, but the right treatment. Any treatment has its positive and negative sides, advantages and disadvantages. In general, it is always general guidance, then medication, specialized surgical treatment, and then assisted reproductive treatment. Simple cases can be achieved with simple treatment, and exceptional cases are those where IVF may not be effective. Our emphasis is on symptomatic treatment, simple when it should be simple, costly when it needs to be complicated, and abandonment when it should be abandoned in special cases. It is important to treat moderately and not over-treat or ineffectively. Theoretically, there is no age limit for IVF treatment, but in practice we do not advocate IVF treatment for patients of advanced age. the success rate of treatment for patients over 40 years old is already very low, and those over 45 years old are even more rare. On the contrary, these patients also have the problems of high treatment risks and high treatment costs, and even if they are successful, there are still family and social problems, and the huge age difference will affect the growth, development, psychology and retirement of the child.
Is IVF treatment safe? IVF treatment has risks, including drug side effects, surgical risks and pregnancy risks. The common side effects include allergic reactions, ovarian hyperstimulation, weight gain, fatigue, etc. In the long term, it may also lead to early menopause, and hormonal stimulation may also be associated with the development of tumors. The risks of surgery include infection, bleeding, internal organ damage, etc. The risks of pregnancy include miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, multiple births, etc.
It is generally believed that babies born after conventional IVF treatment do not differ from those born normally, but their long-term condition remains to be further observed.
It is theoretically possible for ICSI to pass on to the next generation some abnormal chromosomes, mutated genes or other genetic defects that affect male fertility, and the operation itself may result in some unknown changes in that embryo.
Therefore, there should be clear medical indications for whether or not to undergo IVF treatment, and unnecessary IVF treatment should not be performed.
Does IVF treatment hurt? Generally speaking, egg retrieval will be painful, but the doctor will use sedative pain medication in moderation, so it is completely tolerable and the patient should not feel afraid.
A small number of patients with ovarian hyperstimulation may experience abdominal distention and pain, which can be relieved in a short period of time with proper treatment.
Of course injections can be painful, so if you are particularly afraid of them, it’s something to consider.
Can you choose the gender of your IVF treatment? Many patients will have this idea and want to have a boy or a girl. It is very unfortunate that this is not currently allowed by our policy and is technically difficult. We don’t want to break the law, and you should not ask us for this, okay?
What is second generation IVF and is it more advanced than first generation IVF The so-called first and second generation is just a colloquial and informal term. During the conventional IVF treatment, the eggs and sperm are placed in a specific environment after certain treatment, and after a certain period of time, the sperm and eggs will naturally unite together to form a fertilized egg. However, if the quality or quantity of sperm is abnormal, after a certain period of time, the sperm and the egg will not unite together to form a fertilized egg, so we need to use a special method to fertilize the egg, which is called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), also known as second generation IVF technology, where we use a capillary needle to aspirate a sperm under a microscope to forcibly inject it into the egg to fertilize it.
The so-called generations here are not a change of technology, like computer technology, where one generation is better than the other, and the second generation of IVF is not more advanced than the first generation. In fact, the first generation is the result of natural selection, which ensures that the strongest sperm is selected to fertilize the egg, reflecting the natural principle of survival of the fittest, while the second generation does not reflect this principle. The cost is also much higher. Therefore, we say that it is better to do the first generation, but if the quality or quantity of sperm is abnormal, or if the previous first generation treatment is not fertilized or the fertilization is poor, then the second generation IVF treatment should be chosen in order to avoid the situation of non-fertilization. This is the second best option.
Do triplet pregnancies have to be reduced? Triplet pregnancies have great risks for both the pregnant woman and the fetus, such as miscarriage, hyperemesis, preterm delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, fetal malformation, fetal growth failure, and neonatal death, which endanger the safety of the mother and child, increase the burden on the family and society, and affect the harmony and stability of the family and society. The Ministry of Health’s Technical Specification for Assisted Human Reproduction clearly requires that for multiple pregnancies, fetal reduction must be performed to avoid twin pregnancies, and delivery of three or more pregnancies is strictly prohibited. In order to reduce the incidence of triplets, we recommend to reduce the number of embryos transferred to 1-2 as much as possible. If you do get pregnant with a triplet, please cooperate with us for the reduction treatment. If you do not cooperate with us in the reduction treatment, we will take the following measures. We regret if this causes unnecessary problems to you and your family.
Why do ectopic pregnancies occur during IVF treatment when the doctors place the embryos in the uterine cavity during the transfer? Unfortunately, the embryos can still swim after the transfer and as long as the fallopian tubes are still connected to the uterine cavity, ectopic pregnancy can occur. However, you don’t have to worry too much, the probability of ectopic pregnancy is not high after all, and most ectopic pregnancies can be detected early because of close observation and follow up by the doctor after the transfer. It is true that the few cases of intrauterine combined with ectopic pregnancy are not easily detected at an early stage. Therefore, patients should not take it lightly if they have obvious abdominal pain and other abnormalities and should always contact their doctor in time.
Unfortunately, not all miscarriages are preserved. Pregnancies after IVF treatment are just as likely to miscarry as normal pregnancies, with a miscarriage rate of about 10-15%.
If there is redness, abdominal pain and other abnormalities after the pregnancy should be consulted as soon as possible, according to the specific case to give the necessary Chinese and Western medicine treatment.
The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who are not able to get pregnant, especially those with weak sperm, often purposely control the number of intercourse, in order to play a role in the “critical” time, thinking that this can concentrate ” In fact, this is a misconception. The production of semen has its own rules, moderate and regular sex is not only beneficial to enhance the emotions of both parties, but also to improve the quality of sperm and help conception. It is reported that the quality of the semen obtained two hours after ejaculation was unexpectedly good.
It is natural to be nervous during treatment because of the many uncertainties of treatment, such as success rate, risks, costs, fear of failure, etc., which may lead to nervousness. Not to mention the patient, we doctors are also under a certain amount of stress. The problem is not to be overly stressed. Some patients can’t sleep all day long, thinking about problems that may be irrelevant, worrying about this and that. The result is not only unhelpful, but also potentially harmful. We will do some targeted guidance work for these patients, and psychological counseling is also needed when the heart wants to relieve the patient’s psychological stress and incompetence through psychological methods, and psychologists use verbal methods to achieve the purpose of treatment. Mental and emotional changes can affect conception, and in turn infertility can lead to mental and emotional changes. If infertile couples do not receive psychological treatment and cannot control their feelings and emotions, it will lead to a vicious circle of infertility.
The ultrasound is done on the second or third day of menstruation to find out whether the endometrium is shed, whether there are lumps in the uterine cavity, whether there are cystic structures in the ovaries and the number of sinus follicles, so it is a mandatory test during the IVF cycle.
Why do I need frequent ultrasounds during my IVF treatment cycle?
After entering the cycle, vaginal ultrasound is performed to understand the thickness of the endometrium, the type of endometrium, the number of follicles and the growth and development of each follicle, to determine if the follicles are mature, to guide the use of medication, and to determine when to stop medication.
Why must the bladder be emptied during vaginal ultrasound? Urine in the bladder can cause ultrasound interference and ultrasound artifacts, so the bladder must be emptied during luteal phase ultrasound and follicle monitoring ultrasound to make the ultrasound images clearer and the test results more accurate.
The need for luteal phase vaginal ultrasound is useful to understand the condition of the uterus before the IVF treatment cycle, the thickness of the endometrium, and the presence of significant masses in the uterine cavity. To understand the condition of the ovaries and fallopian tubes, the number of small follicles, the presence of ovarian masses, fluid in the fallopian tubes and other factors that affect the success rate of IVF.
What is the significance of ultrasound monitoring during embryo transfer Transabdominal ultrasound guides the embryo transfer catheter to enter the uterine cavity smoothly and place the embryo in the ideal position in the uterine cavity.
The need for ultrasound during pregnancy is the common wish of every mother-to-be to have a healthy and lovely baby. While the baby is still in the mother’s “belly”, prenatal diagnosis is needed to find out whether the baby is normal or not. Obstetric ultrasound is essential to directly and visually observe the fetus through the mother’s abdominal wall. Through ultrasound, doctors can find out whether there is an ectopic pregnancy, whether there is a multiple pregnancy, whether the fetus is alive or not, the size of the fetus, and also determine the growth and development of the fetus.
The output of ultrasound for obstetrics is very small, and the dose of ultrasound is not cumulative, so even if it is used several times, it will not cause any harm to the fetus or the mother. To date, there have been no reports of embryonic death or fetal malformation due to ultrasound, but on the contrary, there are more and more reports of ultrasound diagnosis of various fetal malformations and developmental abnormalities during pregnancy.
What is interventional ultrasound diagnosis and treatment Interventional ultrasound refers to the diagnosis and treatment of minor trauma such as biopsy, fluid extraction, drug injection, blood sampling, drainage, and intrauterine manipulation, hysterosalpingography, etc. by puncturing the target area with a fine needle under real-time ultrasound surveillance. It is relatively safe and reliable because ultrasound can dynamically observe the specific area reached by the needle pierced into the body in real time, rather than blindly puncturing it.
The need for multiple pregnancy reduction and the risks of the procedure Multiple pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, preterm delivery, gestational hypertension syndrome, postpartum hemorrhage and fetal malformation, and can lead to life-threatening conditions such as cardiopulmonary failure in late pregnancy For the safety of mother and child, multiple pregnancy reduction must be performed in couples with 3 or more pregnancies. Fetal reduction is a relatively mature technique. It is usually performed at 6 to 8 weeks of gestation. Nevertheless, there are some risks associated with reduction, which may lead to miscarriage, preterm delivery, bleeding and infection, as well as the need to reduce the fetus again if one reduction fails; at the current state of medical care, doctors are not yet able to determine whether the fetus is normal, and can only select embryos that are small in appearance and easy to manipulate sites for reduction. Therefore, there is no guarantee that any fetus that continues the pregnancy will be normal and free of malformations. It is important that the patient and the couple understand in detail the necessity of the reduction procedure and the above-mentioned possible risks, and that they understand the rules and informed consent related to the reduction procedure.