Frequently Asked Questions
Here we have added some frequently asked questions. Let us know if you have any question.
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Infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant (conceive) after one year of unprotected sex. If a woman is older (>35 years) she should seek advice earlier by 6 months. About 10% of couples in the reproductive age group suffer from this problem.
For pregnancy to occur
• A woman must release an egg from one of her ovaries (ovulation).
• The egg must go through the fallopian tube toward the uterus (womb).
• A man’s sperm must join with (fertilize) the egg along the way.
• The fertilized egg must attach to the inside of the uterus (implantation).
If any of the above steps do not take place infertility can occur. It could be blocked tubes, a poor sperm count, uterine pathology or defects in ovulation. Sometimes infertility remains unexplained.Read more here.
Assisted reproductive technology in India includes IVF, which is the technique of fertilizing a woman’s egg in the laboratory. While it was designed originally for women with tubal diseases, IVF has been extended with equal success as treatment of infertility due to endometriosis, poor cervical mucus, unexplained factors and male infertility.
Picking a doctor is so very important. It is important to find a doctor who is responsive and well-matched to your needs and diagnosis. A reproductive endocrinologist specializes in treating infertility and is far more likely to have the experience necessary to identify and treat your problem than a general gynaecologist who treats only a few infertility cases each year. We find patients wishing that they had not spent all their time and money with their general gynaecologist. You may be wasting your time, money and effort with a specialist who cannot get to the root of your problem. To contact Dr Surveen, the best infertility specialist in Delhi, click here.
In most cases, there are no obvious signs of an infertility problem. Intercourse, erections and ejaculation will usually happen without difficulty. The quantity and appearance of the ejaculated semen generally appear normal to the naked eye. Infertility is a widespread problem. For about two in five infertile couples, the problem lies in the male partner
Known causes of male infertility can be:
- Sperm production problems
- Blockage of sperm transport
- Sperm antibodies
- Sexual problems
- Hormonal problems
Read more here.
Common methods of ART include —
• In vitro fertilization (IVF), meaning fertilization outside of the body. IVF is the most effective and most common form of ART. Read more here.
• Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is often used for couples with male factor infertility. Sometimes it is also used for older couples or for those with failed IVF attempts. In ICSI, a single sperm is injected into a mature egg as opposed to “conventional” fertilization where the egg and sperm are placed in a petri dish together and the sperm fertilizes an egg on its own. Read more here.
• Donor eggs/sperm: ART procedures sometimes involve the use of donor eggs (eggs from another woman), donor sperm, or previously frozen embryos. Donor eggs are sometimes used for women who cannot produce eggs. Also, donor eggs or donor sperm are sometimes used when the woman or man has a genetic disease that can be passed on to the baby. Read more here.
• Gestational Carrier: Women with ovaries but no uterus may be able to use a gestational carrier. This may also be an option for women who shouldn’t become pregnant because of a serious health problem. In this case, a woman uses her own egg. It is fertilized by her partner’s sperm and the embryo is placed inside the carrier’s uterus. Read more here.
IVF treatment takes about 15 to 17 days. It is started on day 2 of the menstrual cycle with daily injections to grow eggs which become mature by the 10th day. The egg pickup is done on day 12 of the menstrual cycle and fertilized with sperm in the laboratory. The resulting embryo is deposited in the uterus after 3 or 5 days.
Phase One involves your initial consult and diagnostic evaluation. This can take days, or weeks or even a couple of months in case some surgical intervention is required
Phase Two is your cycle planning stage, which is heavy on logistical details such as obtaining IVF medications and learning how to mix and administer them. And your test report analysis
Phase Three is the start of the cycle and usually lasts about two weeks. During this time you will be taking injectable medications and return to our centre every couple of days for monitoring.
Phase Four is egg retrieval and embryo transfer. A mock embryo transfer is done during the IVF process prior to starting the cycle to ensure that we do not encounter any unexpected problem on the day of the actual embryo transfer. There are three to five days between the time when eggs are retrieved and embryos are put back into the uterus.
Phase Five is a pregnancy test and beyond. Read more here.
We find that most couples will get pregnant within 2 tries. Occasionally, there may be a reason to do a third attempt but that is not common. More than this may be tried if the couple is keen.
It can take up to 6 weeks for inflammation to resolve; therefore, it is reasonable to wait a similar amount of time before restarting the process
IVF treatment side effects vary from patient to patient. However, reactions to medications may include skin irritation at the injection site, abdominal bloating, headaches, breast tenderness, and nausea.
Yes, IVF babies are like any other children. Many couples feel that since this is an artificial process baby may not be normal. However, it is to be understood that although fertilisation takes place outside the body, once the embryo is transferred in the uterus and shows a pregnancy it is a normal pregnancy like any other. IVF babies are as normal as other babies physically, mentally and genetically.
This will depend on your individual response to the medications. During an IVF cycle at our clinic, you will have between four to six appointments, including one for the egg retrieval. We do not encourage unnecessary travel to the clinic.
However, this varies from patient to patient and also with the stage of treatment. During these visits, egg and endometrial development are checked. Some blood tests may be advised to assess egg maturity and decide on the drug dosage.
The first visit is on day 2/3 of the cycle. At this visit, an ultrasound is done to rule out any residual ovarian cysts and to check for endometrial thickness. Drug administration is withheld in case these parameters are not within the required limits.
Egg recovery is generally carried out under anaesthesia unless you opt to have it under sedation and requires you to be in the hospital for half a day. For embryo transfer, you are required to come in with a full bladder and you will be asked to rest for a couple of hours after the transfer. Read more about IVF here.
You can also begin treatment within the time frame you prefer. Furthermore, you can depend on personalized, compassionate care and attention from your physician and donor egg coordinator. Every egg donor is screened in-house. Our counsellors will review the patient’s family history, the biological father’s family history, the egg donor’s history, and answer any questions the patient may have about heredity. There is no sharing of donors between the two patients. One donor is assigned to one couple and all the eggs she produces are for the couple. Read more here.
Male infertility may be treated with medical, surgical, or assisted reproductive therapies depending on the underlying cause. Medical and surgical therapies are usually managed by a urologist who specializes in infertility. A reproductive endocrinologist may offer intrauterine inseminations (IUIs) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) to help overcome male factor infertility. If there is a mild decrease in sperm count or motility then IUI may be tried where semen is prepared to separate out the best, most motile and normal sperms. These are then introduced in the uterus of the female partner. In cases where there is azoospermia i.e. no sperms in the ejaculate, retrieval of sperms can be done surgically by aspiration or surgical extraction (TESA – Testicular sperm aspiration, TESE – Testicular sperm extraction, testicular biopsy). These sperms are then injected into the recovered oocytes by a technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI). Read more here.