Monthly Archives: August 2018
How Ovarian Tissue Freezing Can Preserve Your Future Fertility
You can preserve your future fertility through ovarian tissue freezing. Why is this good news? The National Institutes of Health reported that [h]uman ovarian tissue transplantation has resulted in the birth of over 70 children worldwide. Look: Preserving female fertility through ovarian tissue freezing is trending today because it is a proven safe and successful procedure.
Candidates for Ovarian Tissue Freezing
A woman only releases one egg per month during her natural cycle. It only takes one good quality egg to have a healthy baby.
There are many females who should consider ovarian tissue freezing.
- Female children who do not have fully developed ovaries
- Female children or teenage girls who have been diagnosed with cancer
- Women in their prime reproductive years who have been diagnosed with cancer
- Women wanting to postpone motherhood past their prime reproductive years
- Women wanting to donate their ovarian tissue to help women who are unable to produce good eggs
Celebrated Experts Helping to Preserve Future Fertility
The celebrated fertility specialists at New Hope Fertility Center provide all-encompassing cryopreservation techniques for protecting the fertility of both women and men.
- Ovarian Tissue Freezing
- Egg (oocyte cryopreservation) and embryo freezing
- Sperm freezing
How Ovarian Tissue Freezing Preserves Future Fertility
Ovarian tissue freezing is accomplished through an outpatient surgical procedure by removing a thin piece of the outer membrane of one of the woman’s ovary – the preserved ovary. The outer membrane of an ovary is where a woman’s eggs are located. This ovarian tissue is cryopreserved for later transplant to the woman’s other ovary – the non-preserved ovary.
According to a 2015 study published in the journal of Human Reproduction, 10 out of 32 women facing chemotherapy were able to conceive naturally after undergoing ovarian tissue freezing before cancer treatment.
Natural Fertility Restored
At some determined time in her future, a woman’s fertility can be readily restored and she can naturally have a baby.
- The woman’s frozen ovarian tissue is retrieved from cryopreservation and thawed
- The ovarian tissue is transplanted to the patient’s ovary through simple stitching in an outpatient procedure involving minimal pain
- The ovarian tissue comes to life and begins to function normally – as though it were never removed
- The woman can then conceive naturally without the need for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
Convenient Conception Options Post-Ovarian Tissue Transplant
To help along the natural conception of a baby for women who have undergone an ovarian tissue transplant, New Hope Fertility Center offers:
- Timed Intercourse
- Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)
Timed Intercourse
By monitoring your ovarian cycle through ultrasound and blood tests, the fertility care team at New Hope Fertility Center will determine your optimal time for intercourse – your ovulation window. To increase your chances of conception, determining your ovulation window gives you the 2 to 3 day period every month that is the optimal time for you and your partner to have sexual intercourse.
Your basal body temperature will rise in the two days following ovulation. This temp rise can last for one to three days post-ovulation. The longer your basal body temperature stays high, the better chance you have of conceiving with regular sexual intercourse during your ovulation window.
Medicated Timed Intercourse
A variation of timed intercourse is Medicated Timed Intercourse. Here’s the deal: Typically, a woman only produces one healthy egg per monthly cycle. With Medicated Timed Intercourse, you will be prescribed oral fertility medications – Clomid or Femara – to stimulate your ovaries into producing multiple eggs during one monthly cycle. Because you are producing multiple eggs, your chances of conception increase during your ovulation window during a timed intercourse cycle. But there’s a catch: A multiple pregnancy may be conceived through Medicate Time Intercourse.
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)
Timed intercourse is often used in conjunction with Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). IUI is the generally the same treatment protocol followed through medicated timed intercourse. After an injectable ovulation trigger medication – hCG – has been self-administered, a concentrated amount of sperm is inserted into the woman’s uterus via her cervix in a simple office procedure similar to a Pap smear.
Fertility Preservation Specialist
Ovarian tissue freezing is a state-of-the-art fertility preservation technique. It is important to work with a fertility care doctor having the experience required to design a customized fertility preservation treatment plan meeting your personal needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – click the icon below – or call 917.525.5496.
Innovative EmbryoScope Technology Will Improve Your IVF Pregnancy Success
The EmbryoScope allows the growth and development of embryos in vitro to be monitored without disturbing the culturing process. Look: Quality embryo development is crucial to a successful IVF pregnancy. The EmbryoScope is an innovative, cutting edge, time-lapsed photography and software solution.
Innovative EmbryoScope Technology
The EmbryoScope is an innovative technology designed to improve IVF outcomes.
- Quantitative data on an embryo’s early stage of development in vitro
- Objective information on an embryo’s early stage of development in vitro
- Utilizes time-lapsed photography and software
- No need to manipulate embryos within the incubator in vitro
- No need to remove the embryos from the incubator in vitro
Candidates for EmbryoScope technology:
- Couples having previous failed IVF attempts
- Couples suffering from recurrent pregnancy loss (miscarriage)
Embryology Expertise
From a cell – to a newborn baby – embryology is the branch of biology and medicine focused on the study of an embryo from the point of fertilization through development to the fetus stage. The practice of embryology is key to pregnancy success through IVF technology.
Working with fertility doctors to successfully treat every patient’s underlying cause of infertility, the clinical embryologists at New Hope Fertility Center are responsible for:
- Assisting in the surgical retrieving of a woman’s eggs
- Performing post-surgical retrieval tests on eggs
- Performing in vitro tests on embryos
- Maintaining patient clinical records
Our acclaimed team of embryologists give careful attention to nurturing quality embryos as they develop in vitro. Only quality embryos are transferred to the patient’s uterus.
- Quality embryos have the highest chance of implantation into a woman’s uterine lining
- Quality embryos thrive into a fetus
- Quality embryos have the best chance of achieving a full-term, healthy pregnancy
After Egg Retrieval and In Vitro Culturing
Excess, quality embryos produced during a fresh IVF cycle are cryopreserved for future transfers via Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET). Only the highest quality embryos are cryopreserved for the best chances of a future FET pregnancy success.
Embryology Roles in the IVF Process
Our cutting edge laboratory technology provides embryos culturing in vitro with an optimum environment for healthy development prior to fresh transfer and/or cryopreservation for future FETs.
- HRSS – High Resolution Sperm Selection is technology used to identify and choose only highest quality sperm cells for fertilization of a healthy egg
- ICSI – Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection is technology used to treat male factor infertility by assisting in each healthy egg’s direct fertilization with only a high quality sperm
- Assisted Hatching is technology used to help embryos erupt from their shell and become more amendable to implantation in the uterine lining
- IVF/M – In Vitro Maturation is technology used to surgically retrieve a woman’s immature eggs and mature same in vitro before fertilization via ICSI
- EmbryoScope technology is used to gather time-lapsed data by monitoring every embryo’s development without disruption of the in vitro culturing process
HRSS – High Resolution Sperm Selection
Embryologists at New Hope Fertility Center choose only the healthiest sperm to fertilize an egg in vitro. HRSS technology provides embryologists with the ability to view sperm at 6000 x magnification using Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) microscopy. Through HRSS, an embryologist can view the physical details of each sperm – its shape, size, and motility – looking for good morphological appearance. Healthy sperm is essential to the development of a quality embryo in vitro. Normal chromosomes and less fragmentation in DNA are key factors that play a significant role in the quality of an embryo.
ICSI – Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection
ICSI is an IVF laboratory ancillary procedure designed to help resolve male-factor infertility due to low sperm count or poor sperm quality. ICSI is the micromanipulation of fertilizing an egg by injecting a single sperm directly into the cytoplasm of a mature egg using a pipette (glass needle).
Assisted Hatching
A computer-assisted laser procedure – known as Assisted Hatching – helps the mass of cells inside an embryo escape during transfer for better uterine lining implantation success. A tiny opening is made in the Zona Pellucida through a computer-assisted laser after the embryo has cultured for up to five days.
(IVF/M) In Vitro Maturation
Through IVF/M – in vitro fertilization with maturation – immature eggs are retrieved for maturation in vitro and fertilization using ICSI.
EmbryoScope Technology Expertise
We are proud to be one of a select number of fertility centers in the world having embraced EmbryoScope technology.
To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – click the icon below – or call 917.525.5496.
Discover Our Natural Cycle IVF Protocol
A woman’s natural, high quality egg is produced for retrieval and in vitro fertilization through our Natural Cycle IVF™ treatment. Look: This holistic IVF protocol offers our patients the opportunity to avoid the health risks and cost of high dosages of fertility medications – as well as the trepidation and pain of daily injections. Bottom Line: The Natural Cycle IVF™ is almost completely drug-free – compared to Conventional IVF and Mini-IVF™.
How the Natural Cycle IVF™ Works
A woman’s body may need only a little coaxing to achieve a pregnancy with her one natural, high quality egg produced during a monthly menstrual cycle. A woman’s natural egg is the very best she can produce – without the need for numerous, costly, painful, self-administered fertility medication injections.
- As a woman’s natural cycle begins, the doctor will monitor the growth of her one good egg through ultrasound imaging and blood tests.
- Once her natural egg has reached a prime stage of development, an ovulation trigger medication – hCG – will be self-administered by the patient at a designated time
- On a scheduled date, the egg will be surgically retrieved in an outpatient procedure while the patient is under general anesthesia
- After surgical retrieval, the egg will be fertilized in vitro through a procedure known as Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection
- ICSI is an ancillary IVF procedure in which one quality sperm is directly injected into the woman’s natural egg
- Once a high quality embryo has cultured in vitro to a prime stage of development – it will then be transferred to the woman’s uterus via a thin catheter – similar to a Pap smear procedure
- A pregnancy test is scheduled in approximately two weeks
Pregnancy Success Rates Using Natural Cycle IVF™
Even though fertility medications are not prescribed, the pregnancy success rate for Natural Cycle IVF™ rivals those of Conventional IVF and Mini-IVF™. The personal attention received by the fertility care team at New Hope provides every patient with the support needed to conceive a baby through Natural Cycle IVF™.
What’s the real story?
- No high cost, physically-challenging powerful fertility medications
- A woman produces her one natural egg
- Lowers health risks associated with Conventional IVF
- Avoids the high cost associated with fertility drugs
- Helps women avoid the discomfort and side effects of daily fertility drug injections
- Eliminates the potential of a multiple pregnancy
- Resolves ethical and religious dilemmas for patients opposed to producing excess embryos
Prime Candidates for Natural IVF™
Women who will most benefit from a Natural Cycle IVF™ protocol are those:
- Women over 35 who have a regular menstrual period and are able to ovulate
- Women over 35 with elevated FSH levels
- Women over 35 with a poor ovarian reserve
- Women diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
- Women who are at risk for Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) due to high dosages of fertility medications
- Women who want to avoid costly and painful fertility medication injections
- Women who are unresponsive to fertility medications
- Women who have been unable to produce multiple eggs during a Conventional IVF or Mini-IVF™ cycle
- Women over 35 with elevated FSH levels and poor ovarian reserve
- Women who do not want to produce multiple embryos for ethical or religious reasons
Customized Natural Cycle IVF™ Specialist
It is important to work with a fertility specialist having the experience required to design a customized Natural Cycle IVF™ treatment protocol meeting your personal needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center, call 917.525.5496.
Why Fertility Medication Administration Timing is Essential During Your IVF Cycle
IVF pregnancy success rates are increased when your fertility team has the talent for managing medication therapies with unrivaled precision. Timing is of the essence when it comes to the administration of fertility medications during every infertility treatment cycle – especially IVF. Why does timing matter so much? Your fertility doctor must have the specialization to know when your fertility medication regimens must be adjusted: increased, decreased, or stopped altogether.
Strategic Administration of Fertility Medications
Dr. John Zhang has decades of education, training, and the clinical experience to determine precisely how long patients should remain on a certain medication therapy. As a patient who is committed to investing your time and resources into getting pregnant, you must become well-informed about fertility medications. It can’t be emphasized enough. Every fertility drug is specifically designed for strategic administration during a woman’s IVF cycle. These medications are a very important component of the IVF cycle process and are determinative of pregnancy success.
That’s not all. Our standard of care encompasses the detailed explanation of the important role of fertility medications:
- Prepare the patient’s body for treatment
- Control the patient’s natural ovulation function
Personalized IVF Care
It is important to work with a fertility care team having the experience to accurately prescribe and regulate the fertility medications prescribed as part of your infertility treatment cycle.
- Timed Intercourse with medical assistance
- Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)
- Conventional IVF
- Mini-IVF™
- Natural Cycle IVF™
- Needle-Free IVF
Common IVF Fertility Medications
Fertility medications commonly used during IVF cycles:
- Lupron® is the trade name for an injectable leuprolide acetate used to prevent premature ovulation. Lupron® gives the patient’s body the opportunity to produce a higher number of quality eggs during the IVF cycle. Lupron® essentially switches off the pituitary gland in terms of its ability to produce follicle stimulating hormones and luteinizing hormones. Brand name Ganirelix may be used instead.
- Gonadotropins are follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) injections. Brand names including Bravelle®, Follistim®, Menopur®, and Gonal-F®, stimulate the follicles that contain the eggs during the stimulation phase of the IVF cycle.
- Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) are injections used during ovarian stimulation to trigger the maturation of the eggs and prepare them for retrieval. These hCG injections simulate the effects that an increase in luteinizing hormone would have in a woman going through natural ovulation. Lupron can also be used with certain stimulation protocols.
- Progesterone thickens a woman’s uterine lining to sustain a pregnancy when embryo implantation occurs. During IVF, a woman’s body generally does not produce enough progesterone to create a sufficiently thick uterine lining to support early embryo implantation. In this case, progesterone in various forms can be administered to augment the body’s natural supply until the placenta is able to produce adequate amounts.
Timed Intercourse and Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) Fertility Medications
When a couple is experiencing unexplained infertility despite normal reproductive health, medically supervised timed intercourse or IUI are usually recommended to increase the chances of pregnancy. IUI is the best and lowest cost approach to becoming pregnant when timed intercourse at home fails.
Clomid (Clomiphene Citrate) vs. Femara (Letrozole)
The fertility drug clomiphene citrate – brand named Clomid – is an oral medication used to stimulate a woman’s monthly egg production and increase her chances of pregnancy. Ovulation of multiple eggs is timed with the insemination of a concentrated amount of sperm into the uterus via a woman’s cervix – similar to a Pap smear.
A 2015 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine tested and compared two common fertility drugs stimulating multiple egg production – Clomid v. Femara. Clomid achieved a birth rate of 23 percent, while Femara (generic Letrozole – an aromatase inhibitor) only 18 percent. The study found that Letrozole offered no advantages over Clomid treatment and increased the chance of multiple pregnancy by up to four times. The researchers concluded that Clomid is the most effective medication for stimulating ovaries and increasing the chances of a healthy pregnancy for couples with unexplained infertility.
World Renowned IVF Fertility Medication Administration Expertise
It is important to work with a fertility doctor having the experience required to design a customized fertility treatment plan meeting your personal needs. To schedule your initial consultation Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – call 917.525.5496.
