Monday, March 16, 2020
Friday, March 06, 2020
Head versus heart in IVF
Many
educated patients find it very hard to deal with IVF failure, especially when
the cycle was perfect, and the doctor transferred a top quality blastocyst into
the uterine cavity when the endometrium was receptive.
After
all, the doctor did everything possible, and the blastocyst looked perfect, the
endometrium was 8 mm and trilaminar, the transfer went smoothly and the doctor
was really optimistic !
So
then why did the cycle fail ?
The
reality is they understand that medical science doesn't have the answers to all
their questions, but they find it very hard to accept this.
Because
they are educated , they expect that medical science will have all the answers.
However
, we need to accept the limitations of
medical technology . After all, when we
put an embryo back in the uterus, we can't monitor or track or control what is happening
to it. This is a microscopic ball of living cells, and implantation is a
biological process which is notoriously inefficient !
The
problem is these patients are emotionally very vulnerable , and don't want to
accept the truth that not everything is in our control !
They
want answers, which is why sometimes doctors end up manufacturing them , just
to keep them happy, by running additional expensive genetic tests and offering
experimental expensive unproven treatment. Sadly, this doesn't help them reach
their goal at all, and just ends up making them waste money !
What to find an IVF clinic which respects your time and intelligence ?
WhatsApp us at https://wa.me/919867441589/
Do’s and don'ts after the embryo transfer.
Lots
of patients are very worried that they will do something stupid after the
transfer, which will reduce the chances of their embryo implanting, and cause
their IVF cycle to fail.
These
anxieties usually falls into the category of foods which they eat; (hot foods
or cold foods); or physical activity. For example, they are scared that lifting
weights , or the bumpy ride on Indian roads may dislodge the embryo.
This
is why many doctors are happy to give them a long list of do’s and don'ts.
Mother-in-laws and mothers and aunts will also chime in, with many old wives'
tales. And friends who are pregnant will be happy to add their 2 cents !
The
truth is that the natural place for an embryo is the uterus – it’s its natural
sanctuary ! An embryo in a uterus is like a pearl in an oyster – it’s safe and secure
and nothing you can do can dislodge it, so you really don't need to worry.
Remember
that an IVF pregnancy is exactly like a natural pregnancy – the only difference
is that you happen to know there is an embryo in your uterus ( which fertile
women who are having baby making sex don’t !)
Whether
the embryo spends five days in the test tube in the IVF lab, five days in your fallopian
tube inside the body doesn't matter – once it reaches the uterus, it’s safe.
Of
course, whether it will implant or not is not something we can control – that’s
still a biological process we cannot influence as yet !
What to find an IVF clinic which respects your time and intelligence ?
WhatsApp us at https://wa.me/919867441589/
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
What should a patient do when IVF doctors disagree ?
Infertile couples are often very confused when they go to
IVF doctors , because they get widely varying different opinions , and they're
not sure whom they can trust.
There are many reasons why IVF doctors don’t agree with
each other.
For one thing, our IVF
technology is still not perfect, which means we still cannot even make an
accurate diagnosis, and have to label many couples as having “unexplained
infertility” because we cannot clearly and accurately identify the underlying
problem.
Because no one really knows what the truth is, everyone
interprets tests the way they want, based on their experience and preconceived
notions, and there’s no right answer !
The second big problem is that there are two important
variables which influence the diagnosis and treatment of infertility. One is
called the “ trying time” - how long an
infertile couple has been trying to get pregnant; and the second is the fact
that the” natural history “ of untreated
infertility is unpredictable.
Thus, even infertile couples who haven't been able to get
pregnant for five years, could still perhaps get pregnant on their own, if they
continue trying.
This is why the individual doctor's personal preferences
are going to influence what the doctor advises the patient, because they are so
swayed by their personal experiences and anecdotal success stories.
Thus, some doctors are aggressive , and will advise IVF
for everyone, whereas others are much more conservative , and will want to
explore simpler options first, before advising IVF.
Patients need to recognize this subjectivity, and find a
doctor whose preference and philosophy matches theirs !
What to find an IVF clinic which respects your time and intelligence ?
WhatsApp us at https://wa.me/919867441589/
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Please don't abandon your embryos !
As IVF technology gets progressively better, we're able to
grow more eggs and create more top quality embryos. Now we can't transfer all
the embryos at a time, because of the risk of a multiple pregnancy, which means
patients are left with supernumerary (spare ) embryos. We encourage all patients
to freeze their spare embryos , because each embryo is worth its weight in
gold.
Our technology for freezing and storing embryos using the technology
of vitrification has become so good that survival rates after thawing are
practically 100%, which means the pregnancy rate with these embryos is as good
as with fresh embryos ! And the cost of
doing a frozen –thaw cycle is much less because it's so much simpler and easier
– you don’t need to take any injections at all !
So if you do have spare embryos, please freeze them. Yes, freezing
will add to your cost up front, but it's a very worthwhile investment.
And the bonus is that if you do get pregnant with your first
transfer, you can use your frozen embryos for your next baby, to complete your
family !
What to find an IVF clinic which respects your time and intelligence ?
WhatsApp us at https://wa.me/919867441589/
Monday, February 17, 2020
Why testing for failed embryo implantation in IVF patients is useless
One of the big problems with IVF is the uncertainty which
surrounds it – no one knows which cycle will work, or why perfect cycles fail.
What makes a bad problem even worse is that patients have
unrealistic expectations of the technology. Sadly, doctors compound the problem
by pandering to the patient's demands. They offer to provide answers by running
many expensive, complex, exotic and esoteric tests, even though they know the
reality is that these don’t provide any useful information.
This is because embryo implantation is a complex
biological process, which we cannot control and we cannot monitor, and we still
don't know which embryo will implant , and which ones won't.
Doctors are worried that if we tell the patient the truth –
that we don’t have all the answers – that patient will no longer respect us .
This is why we subject them to the “latest and newest” tests, to demonstrate that we're trying to
figure out exactly what the problem was.
However, this just means that we're taking the patient for
a ride, because we don’t tell them to truth about the limitations of these
tests, and that they won’t change their treatment options.
Yes, the patient ends up spending a lot of money, and this is good for doctors
because they can charge more, but the test results don’t provide any useful
answers , which means the doctor remains in the dark – but he can cloak his
ignorance using fancy medical jargon !
What to find an IVF clinic which respects your time and intelligence ?
WhatsApp us at https://wa.me/919867441589/
Friday, February 14, 2020
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Why IVF doctors disagree
Infertile couples are often very confused when they go to IVF doctors , because they get so many different opinions , and they're not sure whom they can trust.
There are multiple reasons for why IVF doctors will often give widely varying opinions.
For one thing, a lot of our technology is still not perfect, which means we cannot make an accurate diagnosis in reproductive medicine. This is why two different doctors will interpret the same test result in diametrically opposite ways !
Also, we need to remember that making babies involves a couple, which means the fertility of a couple will be the sum of the fertility potential of both the partners . This is why answers are never in black or white - they are always shades of grey ! It's possible that if an "infertile man" marries a very fertile woman, he will be able to get pregnant.
Also, time plays a key role is the final outcome . Trying time - the time for which an infertile couple has been trying to get pregnant is a very important dynamic variable, which means the way we treat a recently married couple is very different from the way we treat one who has been trying for more than one year - even of their test results are identical !
The problem is that the natural history of fertility is difficult to interpret, because we all know infertile couples who haven't been able to have a baby in the bedroom for five years, who still get pregnant on their own, for no clear reason. Of course, if they got pregnant after the doctor's "treatment", he is going to take all the credit. These anecdotal success stories bias the doctor, and his individual personal preferences are going to influence what he advises his patient. Some doctors are aggressive and will advise IVF for everyone, whereas others are much more conservative - and patients need to recognize this difference !
What to find an IVF clinic which respects your time and intelligence ?
WhatsApp us at https://wa.me/919867441589/
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