Categories: Lifestyle

IVF – What Are My Options?

Infertility can be a difficult diagnosis to accept. However, just because you are not able to conceive naturally, does not mean that your dreams of starting a family are impossible. In vitro fertilization (IVF) opens up a diverse world of infertility treatments for you. If this is your first time seeking fertility care, seeking guidance from a fertility clinic can help distill your options. In addition, you’ll need to compare the costs of different fertility treatments before determining which one is best for you.

For hopeful parents who are located in southern California, check out Pacific Fertility Center, which is considered to be the best IVF clinic in Los Angeles. Using innovative and diverse approaches to reproductive medicine, Pacific Fertility Center offers many fertility treatments ranging from traditional IVF and egg donation to surrogacy and egg and embryo freezing.

Their experienced fertility doctors take an individualized approach to each of their clients and don’t turn away difficult cases. This Los Angeles-based fertility center was founded by some of America’s top doctors in reproductive health and has maintained an impressive success rate among their patients.

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IVF

So what is IVF exactly? IVF is a popular form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) that helps women get pregnant through fertilization, embryo development, and implantation. The process is a multi-step endeavor involving medical exams, medication, and surgical procedures that can take a long time. You first take medication to help stimulate your ovaries into producing mature eggs and to prepare them for fertilization.

The eggs are then extracted from your body, mixed with sperm in a lab to help the sperm fertilize the eggs, and then one or more of the fertilized eggs is put directly into your uterus. Although IVF does not work for everyone, it greatly increases your chance of pregnancy if you are having fertility challenges.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

IUI, or intrauterine insemination, is one of the first treatments turned to when experiencing unexplained infertility. Around the time that the woman’s ovary releases one or more eggs, sperm that have been washed and concentrated will be placed directly in the uterus to be fertilized. Ideally, the sperm will swim into the fallopian tube and fertilize a waiting egg, resulting in a normal pregnancy.

Egg Donation

Another popular option with a relatively high success rate for couples with fertility issues is the use of donor eggs. Couples work with a fertility clinic and can either use fresh eggs directly from a donor or frozen eggs from a bank.

Recipients spend ample time working with the fertility clinic to find a good match and to ensure the donor is healthy. The process from the initial appointment to choosing the donor and fertilizing the egg can take many months and involves blood tests, genetic testing, medications, and procedures.

A doctor surgically removes the eggs from the donor, fertilizes them in a lab, and then places the embryos into the recipient’s uterus. Egg donation works well for women with a low egg count, who are experiencing premature ovarian failure, or who have a low quality of eggs.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

ICSI is a refinement of IVF treatment designed to overcome male fertility issues. These may range from a low sperm count to sperm mobility issues that prevent sperm from fertilizing the egg naturally.

The single healthiest sperm is extracted from the sperm sample and injected directly into the egg to fertilize it. This technique bypasses the early stages of fertilization. If sperm issues are not the cause of infertility, IVF would be recommended instead.

If you are struggling to come to terms with this road to parenthood, or are in need of guidance throughout the challenging and emotionally draining process, consider seeking guidance from a professional.

Even if you have accepted your decision to use IVF, the whole process can be emotionally and physically exhausting and seeking support during that process can be highly advantageous to your mental health.

Withtherapy.com offers a broad spectrum of therapists that you can seek out. You are able to work with their AI chatbot to match with a therapist that is best suited to your needs and whom can support you through your endeavor.