IVF Tales IVF doctors spin - how IVF patients can protect themselves from being taken for a ride

IVF doctors often take their IVF patients for a ride when the IVF cycle fails.

They do this because they're not very medically competent  themselves, but refuse to share the truth about their lack of experience and expertise with the patient . They protect themselves by spinning all kinds of stories and take advantage of the patient's vulnerability and ignorance.

They get away with this because patients don't bother to arm themselves with Information Therapy , and because they continue to trust doctors blindly , they believe everything the doctor says .

The doctor transfers the blame to the patient by cooking up all kinds of fanciful explanations as to why the cycle failed. They cloak this in impenetrable medical jargon, to hide the truth. For example, they claim that the high level sperm DNA fragmentation resulted in poor quality embryos; or that the “uterus was hostile”; or that the patient has “latent genital TB”. 

By blaming the patient for the IVF failure , they make matters even worse for the poor patient. Infertile patients have low self-esteem , and after the IVF failure , their self-esteem becomes even worse. The reality is that the reason the IVF cycle fails is because it was done in a poor quality clinic which couldn't create good quality embryos, ,but doctors refuse to be honest about this, and hide the truth by refusing to share embryo photos with the patient.

They then try to sell even more expensive treatment options, such as donor egg IVF and surrogacy, from which they can earn more money, even though these aren't the right treatment for the patient.

Rather than give up all hope and continue blaming themselves for their bad luck, all IVF patients need to do to get pregnant is to find a doctor who tells them the truth - a better doctor , who is transparent, open, answerable, accountable and respectful, rather than one who continues to lie to them.

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

How IVF patients can protect themselves from bad IVF doctors

 

IVF patients who've done an IVF cycle in other clinics are very reluctant to repeat another IVF cycle. In their mind , all doctors are created equal , so they are naturally skeptical about whether Dr Malpani is really any better than their prior IVF clinic ? Their unasked question is – What makes Malpani Infertility Clinic better than anyone else ?

Their confidence in IVF doctors has been shaken up . As we know, at the first consultation , every IVF doctor is in sell model. The doctor is on their best behavior , and is willing to make lots of tall promises  to lure the patient to sign up, so they can make money from the patient. However, when the cycle fails, they become unapproachable , and patients feel abandoned and cheated. They refuse to trust any other doctor, because they fail to realize that not all doctors are created equal.

One of the biggest reasons for their angst is that they feel the doctor has let them down. They don't share information with them; they don't provide satisfying explanations for why the cycle failed ; and they will offer additional options like using donor eggs or doing surrogacy, which sounds like upselling to the patient. These treatment options are much more expensive , and often not acceptable to the patients . Patients aren't fools. They know that they are being taken for a ride , because they can sense that the doctor is hiding the truth from them, now that the cycle has failed. Even worse, they realise that they were cheated because the doctor did not follow best global practices, and did not provide them with photos of their embryos.

This is why it’s very hard for us to explain to patients why we're better – a burnt child dreads the fire, and they are unwilling to try a new doctor, because they are disenchanted with the medical profession because of their poor experience.

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

 

When infertile couples are too tired to have baby making sex

 

One of the elephants in the room is that many infertile couples in modern metropolises are childless not because they have a medical problem , but because they just don't have the energy to be able to have sex at the right time . They are so busy and stressed out that they don’t have any energy left by the time they come home at night. All they want to do is eat, watch TV and flop into bed and sleep – and then they are forced to start the grind again the next day.

They can’t find either the time, energy or desire to have sex – and the problem is compounded when both partners are working ! The only time they can plan sex is on the weekends – but this is the time they have to do their weekly shores and perform their social obligations. Even worse, the wife’s “fertile time”  won’t always conveniently fall on the weekend either !

Here are four simple solutions you can use to overcome this problem.

1.       Have a quickie in the morning. You often have an early morning erection , and you can shower together , to set the mood . Plus, it’s a great way to stat the day !

2.       Use a lubricant such as liquid paraffin, which is sperm friendly.

3.       Use sexual toys to add spice back in your sex life

4.       Watch films which turn you on to get you in the mood.

Finally, remember that going to a doctor for medical treatment is expensive ! If you can seduce your wife, you'll save a lot of money, so hopefully that will incentivize you !

Making IVF affordable at Malpani IVF clinic through the EMI option

IVF treatment can be expensive and can create a considerable financial burden. This is the reason we have now tied up with CreditFair to offer interest-free EMI options to our patients.

This makes IVF much more affordable for patients who are not able to  pay up a large amount of money upfront , but can do so over a period of 6-9 months. Because your payments are spread out over a period of time , you can do the IVF now, and don't have to waste precious months waiting to be able to afford an IVF cycle . Not only is waiting extremely frustrating , your chances of getting pregnant keep on dropping as you get older. 

When you use the CreditFair EMI option, you don't have to bear any additional interest burden at all - we pay this for you. This means you end up paying exactly the same amount, but over a period of six - nine months, which makes it much more feasible for you to do your IVF treatment now, rather than having to postpone it.

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

What if everything you thought you knew about IVF is wrong ? The truth about IVF

 We're very happy to treat patients who know a lot about IVF, which is why we prescribe so much information therapy on our website . Our videos and IVF comic book are designed to educate and empower patients, so they understand more about IVF.

One of the problems is that when patients who have failed an IVF cycle in another clinic come to us, they often feel that they know a lot about IVF , because they've already done IVF treatment in the past.

The problem is that a lot of the things they think they know about IVF are wrong !

This is because their IVF doctor has never bothered to educate them , or explain the technical and medical details to them. Most doctors do a lot of unnecessary tests , and overtreat patients with unproven experimental approaches. Our approach is very different. It's much more simplified , more down-to-, earth and much more practical. We are frugal, and don't do unnecessary tests. We don't make patients waste money, and try to educate patients so they know exactly what to expect. We explain to them in advance what the right way of doing things is , and we share a written treatment plan well in advance , so there aren’t any surprises .

They are in control because they have been told exactly what's going to happen , and when and why. We also document everything we do , including giving photographs of embryos routinely to all our patients. This way, patients are in control of their cycle, and this gives them considerable peace of mind.

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

How sequential embryo transfers reduce IVF pregnancy rates

 

Many clinics do sequential embryo transfers for their patients , claiming that this helps to increase pregnancy rates. This means they transfer some embryos on day 3 , and then transfer some more embryos on day 5. Patients are happy because they naively believe that the more the embryos which are transferred, the better their chances of getting pregnant. They believe that this option allows them to have their cake and eat it too.

Actually, this technique is the hallmark of a poor quality clinic . The very fact that the clinic needs to do sequential transfers means they're not confident that they can grow embryos to day 5 in their IVF lab, so they are using this strategy to try to hedge their bets.

Also, this option actually reduces pregnancy rates . For one thing, it increases the risk of a multiple pregnancies because you're transferring too many embryos inside the uterus. If both the day 3 and the day 5 embryos implant , you would end up with a multiple pregnancy, which poses a huge risk to the newborn babies , because of the danger of prematurity .

Even worse, because the doctor has used up all your embryos for the fresh transfer, there are no spare embryos left for freezing. This means, if the cycle fails, you have to start a fresh cycle all over again, and this is much more expensive than doing a frozen cycle.

Sequential transfer reduces the overall cumulative conception rate , and the tragedy is that doctors are pushing patients into doing this because they are not confident about their lab.

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

How do I use the Malpani Baby Kit for Self Insemination ?

The Malpani Self Insemination Baby Kit has become very popular, and many couples are using it to treat themselves in the privacy of their bedroom.

 Here are answers to some queries patients have.

1. As per the instruction manual, we need to keep the semen in the container for 15-30 minutes to liquefy. Will that affect the sperm quality or motility in any way.

No

2. After the semen is collected in the container , should we store it a cool place until next 30 minutes or so until we start the procedure.

No. The cold is not good good for sperm. Please keep this at room temp 

3. Can my wife use the pipette to inject the sperm herself ? 

Yes

4. How do we make sure the pipette position is correct as i see its quite flexible and the position of the pipette can go wrong during insertion.

As long as its going in the vagina, that's fine . The sperm will swim and find their way through the cervix to the egg. They are deigned as effective guided missiles !

5. Can we use the pipette without the speculum . 

Yes, you can. The speculum is optional

Need help in getting pregnant ? You can buy the kit online at https://www.drmalpani.com/knowledge-center/resources/tools/self-insemination-kit-india

We take pride in how much our patients know about IVF

 

In our clinic , we take pride in our knowledge of IVF - not just in how much we know about IVF , but in how much our patients know about IVF .

You might wonder why that matters . After all, we are the medical specialists , and we are doing the treatment, so what difference does it make whether a patient understands what's going on or not?

The reason I think this is important is because IVF outcomes are always uncertain and unpredictable , and the pregnancy rate is never going to be a 100%. This is why patients need to understand the processes , so they have peace of mind that they've received high quality medical care.

No matter what the final outcome , they should never feel that they got a raw deal , or received poor quality medical care.

Patients need to take the path of least regret , and the more they know about the medical details of IVF treatment , the better they can ensure that their IVF doctor is doing exactly what’s right for them, by following global good practices , and doing things by the book .

However, if you don’t know what global best practices are, how will you be able to judge the competence, skills and expertise of the IVF doctor.

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

IVF doctors and the games they play with their IVF patients

 

Many patients continue to believe that the best doctors are the ones who do the most tests - and that the more expensive the test , the better the doctor !

They also naively believe that the best doctor is the one who does the most expensive treatments , and charges the most for these. After all, if he charges more , he must be adding some special value . And if other patients are willing to pay the extra he charges, this means that they also think that he is better than all the rest .

Many doctors are quite happy to play this game of one-upmanship. They want to prove that they are better than other doctors , which is why they will order the latest tests ( which are often the most expensive ones) . They do this not because these tests are actually helpful, but in order to show off to patients that they are up to date with the latest technology. They use tests which are supposed to assess the immune response, or to analyse reproductive genetics , and these are peppered with fancy medical jargon, which no one understands, which makes them sound even more impressive !

Sadly, these tests are unproven, and patients don't realize they're being used as guinea pigs . Please remember that just because a test is new and expensive , this doesn't mean that the test is better . However, unless patients arm themselves with reliable information , they will not be able to ask the doctor intelligent questions, or push back when the doctor prescribes exotic and esoteric tests.

 Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

Painfree IVF - Why IVF at Malpani IVF clinic is painfree

 

One of the major concerns which IVF patients have is that IVF is going to be painful . All of us associate doctors with pain , and while all doctors say they're not going to hurt you , they all end up inflicting pain.

This is especially true for infertile couples – especially those who have had a HSG. They thought it would be a simple X-ray,  and X-rays aren’t associated with pain. However, a HSG can be extremely painful , and patients are completely unprepared for this , because no one has bothered to tell them the truth.

They find it very hard to trust any doctor after this, and it’s hard to overcome this trust deficit.

Similarly, IVF patients who've take Gestone injections after the embryo transfer find these are extremely painful because these are oily . And because patients need to take them daily, they can’t even sit down any more, because their buttocks are so sore.

We promise our patients that we are not unkind or cruel, and we've never given a single Gestone injection to any of our patients in the last 30 years. Yes, we do prescribe progesterone, but we do it in the form of vaginal pessaries, which is much kinder , and much more effective as well.

The only injections we use are water soluble , and patients can self-administer these themselves, which means they are easy to take and pain-free.

This is why we can confidently promise patients that they won't have any pain in our Clinic.

Video on the Testicular Rejuvenation Therapy scam for treating azoospermia due to testicular failure

 

Video on how IVF doctors add to the IVF patient's stress levels

 

How IVF doctors add to the IVF patient's stress levels

A good doctor is supposed to reduce the patient’s stress levels by providing them with reassurance but many IVF doctors end up increasing the patient’s stress . They put all kind of onerous conditions on them - that they need strict bed rest after embryo transfer ; they need to change their diet ; they need to stop going to work . All these prohibitions make a bad situation even worse , because lying in bed all day long makes the back hurt, and they feel powerless and helpless. Also, an idle mind is the Devil's workshop , and they keep on thinking negative thoughts when they are confined to bed. Their mind starts playing games with them , and if they fail to get pregnant , the doctor blame them for the failure by saying that the “embryo fell out” because they didn't take complete bed rest .

This is absolutely false and completely rubbish, but patients are emotionally vulnerable, and will accept everything their doctor tells them because they don’t know any better. Doctors compound the problem by refusing to be open and transparent when the cycle fails .

They transfer the blame to the patient by cooking up all kinds of fanciful explanations as to why the cycle failed, and cloak this in impenetrable medical jargon, to hide the truth. For example, they claim that the sperm count wasn’t good ; or there were many abnormal sperm forms; or the “uterus was hostile”.

By blaming the patient for the IVF failure , they make matters even worse for them. Infertile patients have low self-esteem , and after the IVF failure , their self-esteem becomes even worse. The reality is that the reason the IVF cycle fails is because it was done in a poor quality clinic which couldn't create good quality embryos, ,but doctors refuse to be honest about this, and hide the truth by refusing to share embryo photos with the patient.

 Don’t allow your doctor to take you for a ride. The best way to protect yourself is by investing in information therapy, so you know what is right , and can judge whether what your doctor is saying makes any logical sense or not.

 Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

 

How to make sense of a medical second opinion from IVF experts

When IVF patients get a second ( and third opinion ) , they are often very confused when the experts offer differing advice . They are not sure whom to trust, and will often go by the pedigree of the expert – his qualifications; whether he is “foreign returned”; or what his reputation is .

This is not a good idea , and it's much more important to follow what your heart tells you . Please learn to respect your own personal preferences , and don’t leave everything upto the expert.

The truth is that every expert will have their own prejudices, based on their personal experience, and not all of them are interested in looking after your best interests.

When you are confused, listen to what your own heart is telling you . You gut feel and intuition are important . When the answers are black or white , it’s easy to choose. However, the fact that they aren’t should actually be reassuring , because this means is that there are no right answers, and that whatever you choose will be right for you.

Don’t follow a path blindly just because some expert has endorsed it ! Rather than worry that you are not following one particular expert’s advise , you should be happy that you are following another expert’s advise ! Medical Science hasn't unable to come to a consensus for many areas, because few things in biology are black or white .

As a patient, take the path of least regret . Insist of dreaming only about happy outcomes , think about what you need to do to avoid bad outcomes, so you minimize your risks.

If you then choose for yourself, you will have peace of mind that you have done your best - and really that’s all anyone can do , because both IVF and life are uncertain and probabilistic.

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

 

Testicular Rejuvenation Therapy for Treating Azoospermia because of testicular failure

The ability of IVF specialists to fool their patients continues to boggle my mind. One of the most frustrating unsolved problems in reproductive medicine is that of primary testicular failure . The man has azoospermia ( zerosperm count) because his testes do not work properly. Spermatogenesis ( sperm production) is impaired, and we do not know why and cannot do anything about this.

There have been many experiments with in vitro spermatogenesis, where researchers have tried to create sperm from sperm precursors (spermatogonia and spermatocytes) in the laboratory , but none of these have worked . These patients are understandably desperate, and there are plenty of quacks, homeopaths and ayurvedic doctors who will offer all kinds of treatments to fix their problem. The sad truth is that none of these work.

Today, IVF specialists have also joined the bandwagon , by offering “ stem cell injections “ into the testes for a colourfully named treatment called “ testicular rejuvenation therapy “. This is a big scam , and is just a way of making money from vulnerable patients .

Sadly, the ICMR , which is meant to regulate IVF clinics and stem cell therapy has chosen to turn a blind eye to this abuse.

These clinics are smart, and because they know that stem cell treatment is regulated, they continue doing it by using clever alternative names such as PRP ( plasma rich in platelets) , which is not regulated .

What they describe in their ads and their official marketing materials is very different from what they sell to emotionally vulnerable patients in their clinic. They also cleverly use "scientific research papers" published in poor quality medical journals ( which they pay to publish) to give them an aura of scientific respectability.

Because patients are desperate, they refuse to listen to the truth , and are happy to clutch at straws . They end up wasting their time and money , andend up poorer and wiser. The problem is that these dodgy clinics damage the reputation of the medical profession by making these tall claims, and increase the trust deficit between doctors and patients.

If you want to ensure you don’t get taken for a ride,please arm yourself with Information Therapy.

Why don't all doctors advice their patients to use the Malpani Self Insemination Baby Kit ?

The Malpani Self Insemination Baby Kit is extremely valuable in helping couples with unexplained infertility and childlessness because of sexual dysfunction to have a baby in the privacy of their bedroom , without having to spend money going to a doctor . Medical care is expensive , stressful and consumes a lot of time .

However, when patients ask their doctor about whether the self insemination kit is helpful or not, they often lie and say that using the self insemination kit is dangerous . They claim that there is a risk of infection , and using the kit can damage the sperm and result in babies with birth defects because it is an “artificial” procedure, and is being done without medical supervision.

It breaks my heart when doctors lie like this to their patients . Self insemination has been proven to be safe and effective , and thousands of babies have been born worldwide with this technique. The kit consists of medical grade equipment, which is sterile and disposable - it's exactly what we use in the IVF lab.

So why do doctor mislead their patients ?

I think this is because their income is threatened . If patients start using the Self Insemination Kit, they will lose the money they would otherwise have been able to change them for doing an artificial insemination , which is often the bread and butter for many gynecologists, and they don’t want this taken away from them.

Doctors need to learn to tell the truth to their patients . Lying is unprofessional and unethical , and while you can fool some of the patients some of the time , you can’t keep on fooling them all the time . I wish they would explain that while self insemination is safe and effective , going to a doctor has the advantage that a lot of the care is provided by the doctor , so that patients don’t have to make decisions for themselves . Some patients want the insemination to be done under medical supervision, and this is a perfectly legitimate reason to go to a doctor, but that doesn’t change the fact .

How to get a 100% pregnancy rate after IVF

The diagnosis of an IVF pregnancy is made by testing for the presence of the pregnancy-specific hormone, HCG ( human chorionic gonadotropin) which is produced only by the placental cells ( trophoblasts) . This is done either by testing the urine at home by doing a home pregnancy test ( HPT) , or by measuring the level of the HCG hormone in the blood . This is how IVF patients find out after an embryo transfer whether they are pregnant or not.

In order to increase their pregnancy rates, the sad truth is that many IVF specialists give their IVF patients HCG injections after embryo transfer , in order to fool them. This is the same injection which is used for triggering ovulation, and brand names  include Ovitrelle When their urine pregnancy test is positive, they are on top of the world, and very grateful to their doctor, because they believe the IVF cycle was successful. However, they are being cheated, but they don’t know this. The doctor continues giving them more HCG injections, to “support” the pregnancy, so their pregnancy test remains positive. However, when they do an ultrasound scan, they don’t find a pregnant,  because they were never pregnant in the first place ! The doctor tells them sorrowfully that even though the IVF cycle was “ successful” ( as proven by the positive pregnancy test), they have unfortunately, miscarried and need to try again ! Patients fall into this trap and keep on getting cheated, cycle after cycle. The doctor then starts advising more expensive options, such as surrogacy or donor egg, so that the pregnancy will continue to grow, and keep on enriching himself at the expense of the patient.

In other clinics, the doctor tells them they had a “chemical pregnancy”, and lures them into doing cycle after cycle in his clinic.

How can you protect yourself from this scam ? Always repeat the HCG blood test after 3 days. If it’s a viable pregnancy ( and not an factitious pregnancy created by the HCG injection), this level will double, and this is reassuring.

This technique is how unscrupulous and unethical IVF doctors get all their patients pregnant, and have a 100% IVF success rate ! The truth is that HCG is used only to trigger ovulation prior to egg collection, and has not role to play after the embryo transfer , and I hope this information helps to protect you from being taken for a ride !