Monthly Archives: December 2018
How a Natural Cycle IVF™ Can Help You Get Pregnant in the New Year
The Natural Cycle IVF™ is almost completely drug-free – compared to Conventional IVF and Mini-IVF™. Using this holistic protocol, a woman’s monthly, natural, high quality egg is surgically retrieve and then fertilized in vitro. Our Natural Cycle IVF™ treatment 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.
Natural Cycle IVF™ Pregnancy Success Rates
Our pregnancy success rates for Natural Cycle IVF™ rivals those of Conventional IVF and Mini-IVF™. The personal attention provided by the fertility care team at New Hope Fertility Center provides every patient with the support needed to conceive a baby through Natural Cycle IVF™.
By treating each of our patients as individuals, we are able to create treatment plans customized for their specific medical and personal needs. No longer are high quantities of fertility medications necessary to produce One Good Egg.
Our One Good Egg Policy
It only takes One Good Egg to make a healthy baby. Our approach is not to focus on producing high quantities of eggs to be retrieved during a fresh IVF cycle. A large number of eggs is nonproductive if they are of low quality and not suitable for fertilization in vitro.
Our main goal is to help women produce high quality, healthy eggs.
Women who are accepted for Natural Cycle IVF™ treatment at New Hope Fertility Center are typically those who have been turned away by other clinics because they:
- Have high FSH levels
- Are unable to produce a large number of eggs during a single cycle
- Do not respond well to fertility medication
- Are at a disadvantage due to advanced maternal age
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
Benefits of Natural Cycle IVF™
- 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
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.
Read About Dr. Zhang in the News: How Mini-IVF™ Lowers Your Costs and Risks
By lowering patient financial costs and health risks, a customized Mini-Free IVF™ is a very successful treatment for women suffering from infertility – even if they have failed Conventional IVF. Pregnancy success rates prove that large amounts of fertility medications do not increase your chances of getting pregnant through IVF treatment. Dr. Zhang on the Revolutionary Mini-IVF™
Dr. Zhang Explains Mini-IVF™ in the News
In Very Well Family (8/20/18) – Dr. John Zhang explains that producing too many eggs with large doses of fertility drugs can backfire and cause medical problems such as PCOS. Failing a Conventional IVF doesn’t mean that Mini-IVF™ won’t work.
Failing an IVF cycle happens for a number of reasons.
- Age-related poor egg quality
- Stress
- Poor uterine environment preventing an embryo from implanting
- Incorrect hormone levels
Some women who fail a Conventional IVF cycle will have better luck with lower or no egg stimulation protocols because these can produce higher quality eggs. It is a case by case situation and by trying more holistic treatments, pregnancy success has been achieved.
Our Mini-IVF™ protocol has changed the entire landscape of IVF treatment. It is a simple, convenient, and patient-friendly IVF protocol. A woman’s body no longer needs to be forced into overproducing eggs to achieve a successful pregnancy.
Mini-IVF™ Successfully Treats Women Suffering From Endometriosis
If you are suffering from infertility due to a history of endometriosis, our Mini-IVF™ can increase your chances of pregnancy without the need for large dosages of costly fertility medications used to produce an excessive number of eggs. The goal with a Mini-IVF™ protocol is to produce between 3 and 5 quality eggs per fresh cycle. The best part: Pregnancy success rates for Mini-IVF™ are comparable to Conventional IVF.
Mini-IVF™ Overview
Because lower dosages of fertility medications are prescribed to only produce 3 to 5 high quality eggs, the patient’s cost per Mini-IVF™ cycle is reduced. With a Mini-IVF™ protocol, the patient’s physical discomfort is lessened because her body is not forced into producing the 10 to 15 eggs reached in a Conventional IVF cycle.
Look:
The Mini-IVF™ protocol in a nutshell.
- A fertility medication regimen to produce 3 to 5 quality eggs
- Cycle monitoring through ultrasound imaging and blood tests
- Surgical egg retrieval
- Fertilization of egg and sperm in vitro via (ICSI)
- Culture and monitoring of embryo(s) via EmbryoScope technology
- Grading and selection of quality embryo(s) for fresh transfer and/or future (FET)
- Single Embryo Transfer (SET)
Candidates for Mini-IVF™
Mini-IVF™ is the best treatment protocol for those women who have been:
- Diagnosed with blocked or damaged Fallopian tubes due to endometriosis
- Diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
- Diagnosed as having a risk of developing Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)
- Diagnosed with a low ovarian reserve due to endometriosis
- Diagnosed with cancer and are about to undergo treatment
Mini-IVF™ has also become the preferred treatment protocol for:
- Those patients who have failed multiple Conventional IVF cycles
- Those patients suffering from male-factor infertility
- Those patients wanting to reduce their costs of treatment
- Those patients wanting to reduce their risk of multiple pregnancy
- Those patients who don’t want to create excessive embryos due to religious reasons
- Those patients who want to reduce their use of injectable medications because of an aversion to needles
- Those patients who want to undergo another fresh IVF cycle immediately after a failed cycle
Customized Mini-IVF™ Fertility Doctor
It is important to work with a fertility doctor having the experience required to design a customized Mini-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.
Treating Male-Factor Infertility: High Resolution Sperm Selection (HRSS)
Identifying and choosing high quality sperm to fertilize an egg is crucial in male-factor infertility cases. Any and all negative influence of male-factor infertility must be negated to ensure successful embryo development. Why does this matter? HRSS technology is helping embryologists see, identify, and choose only high quality sperm cells for fertilization of an egg in vitro.
Using the HRSS technology, our fertility specialists have achieved an increase in IVF pregnancy success rates.
Male-Factor Infertility
New Hope Fertility Center is one of only a few fertility treatment providers to offer HRSS technology. Look: HRSS optimizes the sperm selection process for improving the success of ICSI. With HRSS technology, embryologists are able to better visualize sperm for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) administration. Bottom line: Couples who have multiple failed IVF cycles are the primary benefactors of HRSS.
HRSS Technology
At 6000 x magnification – using Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) microscopy – it is possible for embryologists to see finer morphological details of sperm. Using conventional 500 x magnification, these details would go unnoticed.
The best part? By viewing sperm cells at 6000 x magnification, lab technicians can identify quality sperm cells that are optimum for fertilization of a healthy egg.
Once optimum sperm cells have been identified, a two-pronged process takes place.
- Selection
- Injection
Once the quality sperm cells are selected and separated using HRSS, they are injected into the egg for fertilization. Each egg receives a single sperm injection.
- Reduces chances of a negative impact a sperm can have on a perfectly healthy egg
- Removes any negative influence that male-factor infertility may have on successful embryo development
- Increase the chances of a viable pregnancy
HRSS Identifies Optimum Sperm
A sperm cell’s normal appearance makes it more likely to be comprised of normal chromosomes and DNA structure. Here’s the deal: Optimum sperm morphology correlates directly with successful egg fertilization and embryo implantation. Morphology is the most important criteria when judging the quality of a sperm cell.
- Sperm motility – ability of the cell to swim
- Sperm morphology – overall assessment of the cell’s shape, size, and physical appearance
HRSS optimizes the selection of quality sperm. Quality sperm is crucial for improving ICSI. The best part? The process of ICSI improved overall and – consequently – IVF pregnancy success rates are higher.
- Higher positive pregnancy rates
- More successful embryo implantations
- Increased full-term pregnancies
HRSS Increases IVF Pregnancy Success Rates
At New Hope Fertility Center, our patients have a high chance of IVF pregnancy success through the use of HRSS technology. It can’t be emphasized enough. The best quality embryos are created in vitro by using the healthiest sperm to fertilize one good egg.
In addition to noticeable increases in pregnancy success rates achieved through HRSS technology, studies have shown a decline in the rate of spontaneous abortions occurring in IVF pregnancies.
Holistic IVF Protocols Promoted Through the Benefits of HRSS
New Hope Fertility Center offers innovative holistic IVF protocols requiring very little to no hyperstimulating fertility medications to achieve a pregnancy. Bonus: These holistic protocols allow fertility specialists to enhance a woman’s natural egg production.
Our holistic IVF protocols are based on our One Good Egg Policy: It only takes one healthy egg to become pregnant and have a baby.
Double Bonus: Our holistic IVF protocols are proven to be safe, successful, and less expensive than Conventional IVF.
Male-Factor Infertility Expertise
It is important to work with a fertility doctor having the experience required to design a male-factor infertility treatment protocol meeting your personal needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center, call 917.525.5496.
How the EmbryoScope Increases IVF Pregnancy Success Rates
Using the EmbryoScope, our fertility specialists have achieved an increase in IVF pregnancy success rates. Look: Quality embryo development is crucial to a successful IVF pregnancy .The EmbryoScope allows the growth and development of embryos in vitro to be monitored without disturbing the culturing process. The EmbryoScope is an innovative, cutting edge, time-lapsed photography and software solution.
Innovative 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 to utilize EmbryoScope technology and increase our IVF pregnancy success rates.
To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – click the icon below – or call 917.525.5496.
