How In Vitro Maturation (IVM) Increases IVF Success Rates

IVM or IVF/M – egg maturation in vitro – is a revolutionary method of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) helping to increase a woman’s chances of using at least some of her immature eggs for fertilization. The best part? IVM is an innovative ART technique that surgically retrieves a woman’s eggs while they are still in an immature stage. Look: A woman’s eggs can be matured in a controlled laboratory setting – in vitro – through IVF/M.
 

IVF/M Overview

After the woman’s immature eggs are surgically retrieved, they are placed in a petri dish containing a maturation medium for 24 to 48 hours in New Hope Fertility NYC’s state-of-the-art IVF lab. That’s not all. The retrieved eggs are carefully monitored as they fully mature outside of the woman’s body. Then, each individual egg is injected with a single sperm in a fertilization technique known as Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). The resulting embryos are cultured for several more days until they have developed into a viable stage for transfer. Why does this matter? Only the highest quality embryos are selected for fresh IVF transfer or cryopreservation.

IVF/M Candidates

The best candidates for IVF/M:

• Women diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
• Women at risk for Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)
• Cancer patients who may be sensitive to hormone therapy
• Young women able to produce high numbers of egg follicles (10 to 15+) through fertility drug stimulation
• Young women who have an acceptable AMH level
• Women under 35 having an antral follicle count of 10 or more
• Women who are at a healthy BMI – not obese

IVF/M Pregnancy Success Results

Women under the age of 30 have the greatest likelihood of producing multiple egg follicles to be retrieved before maturity. Bottom line: For these women, IVM in conjunction with IVF has produced very good pregnancy success rates.

There’s a catch. As with all infertility treatment protocols, pregnancy success rates are lower for woman in their advanced maternal years (over 35). These women are not good candidates for IVM in conjunction with IVF because their pregnancy success rates have proven to be very low.

IVF/M vs. Conventional IVF

IVF/M is a safer and less expensive alternative to Conventional IVF – a protocol using high dosages of fertility medications to produce multiple matured eggs prior to surgical retrieval. Typically, 10 to 15 eggs are harvested per fresh Conventional IVF cycle. In most cases, a high percentage of these eggs are not of a quality acceptable for fertilization in vitro.

Look: Compare and Contrast Conventional IVF Egg Retrieval Outcomes

• 10 eggs may be retrieved
• 5 eggs may be fertilized in vitro
• 3 of the fertilized eggs may become healthy embryos for transfer

Cons of IVF/M

With IVF/M patients are less likely to have excess, leftover embryos to cryopreserve for future Frozen Embryo Transfers (FET). Why does this matter? If a cycle fails, and subsequent fresh IVF/M cycles are pursued, costs can add up to be greater than a Conventional IVF where multiple embryos are produced and can be cryopreserved.

Another risk of IVF/M is that a patient could end up producing unhealthy eggs that are not able matured in vitro to be fertilized. Or, the embryos produced in vitro may not be of a healthy quality for transfer. Bottom Line: IVF/M is not the protocol for patients wanting to produce and cryopreserve a large number healthy eggs or quality embryos for future family planning purposes.

World Renowned IVF/M Expertise

It is important to work with a fertility care team having the experience required to design a customized IVF/M treatment protocol meeting your personal needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility NYC, click the icon below – or – call 917.525.5496.