The Failed IVF Cycle HRC Fertility, like nearly every reputable fertility center, no longer performs ZIFT. IVF is the preferred method, making up 98% of assisted reproductive technology. It happens all too often: The fertility treatment has reached the point where your doctor recommends in vitro fertilization (IVF). The stimulation seems to go well and the egg retrieval procedure yields a reasonable number of good-quality eggs. The eggs are successfully fertilized and on the day of embryo transfer, you are presented with a picture and the option of transferring a certain number of “good-quality” embryos. There is the usual discussion of the possibility...
March 20, 2009December 29, 2023
3 Ways to Test For Ovulation At Home
Did you know that there is more than one way you can test for ovulation at home? There are actually three ways that you can do this. 1. Menstrual Diary A quick and simple way to find out whether you ovulate (release an egg) is to keep track of when your period comes each month. Most women who ovulate each month will have about 28 to 30 days between the first day of one period and the first day of the next. It is normal to have some variability in the number of days between periods, but if they are...
March 18, 2009September 6, 2023
A Patient’s Poem
This is a poem written by one of our current patients about their fertility journey. It sincerely touched me and I thought it would touch so many others who have struggled or who are struggling with infertility. Some of you may know that every other year we celebrate our HRC Fertility family by having a baby reunion around Mother’s day in the park…at the top of this poem, our patient has placed a photo of our last baby reunion… We are looking forward to them being at our picnic in the park as well as many others who are on...
March 13, 2009May 13, 2024
4 Ways to Decrease Menstrual Flow
Many of our USC Fertility patients ask me if there are ways to decrease their menstrual flow. Here are some tips to help get you started: 1. Ibuprofen Ibuprofen is one of several medications classified as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). These drugs work by reducing your body’s production of inflammatory elements called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins have important actions on the blood vessels in the inner lining of the uterus, thereby affecting the amount of bleeding that occurs during a menstrual period. Using an NSAID at the time of a period can decrease the amount of bleeding by 20-40%, and sometimes by...
February 23, 2009May 13, 2024
A Day in the Life of an IVF Nurse Coordinator
My main role as an IVF nurse coordinator is to make sure that our patients get all the information they need to have a smooth and pleasant experience as they go through the emotional roller coaster of their fertility treatments, whether it is an insemination cycle, IVF or an egg donor recipient cycle. I am the patients’ liaison to the doctor. I am their cheerleader, their therapist, their main “go to” person in whatever they need as they go through the labyrinth of their fertility treatment. I teach them how to mix their drugs and how to give them. I...
February 16, 2009August 18, 2023
IVF Success in Older Women
In the United States, there is a growing trend for delaying childbirth. This development has led to an increased number of older women experiencing infertility as they attempt conception. It is well-known that age affects a women’s ability to conceive. Women over the age of 40 have been shown to have worse outcomes with assisted reproductive techniques (ART) than younger women, in terms of both response to ovarian stimulation and pregnancy rates. With chronologic aging, ovarian aging also occurs, defined as a decrease in ovarian number and quality. Numerous studies have shown that older women have a worse response to...
February 09, 2009September 6, 2023
The Controversy Over Surrogacy
On Sunday, November 30, 2008, The New York Times Magazine published a cover story titled “Her Body, My Baby” by longtime New York Times style reporter Alex Kuczynski, in which the author wrote about her recent experience paying another woman to carry and have her child. Online sparks—both pro and con—about the issue of surrogacy ignited almost immediately. The website urbanbaby.com asked “What was your reaction to Alex Kuczynski’s NYT article on her experience using a surrogate mother to carry her baby?” In its “Daily Intel” section, on December 3, 2008, New York Magazine published an article titled “Does the Times Secretly Hate Alex Kuczynski?” The...
January 12, 2009August 18, 2023
The Vatican, Stem Cell Research, and Fertility Treatments
A few weeks ago, the Vatican released its first authoritarian proclamation on reproductive science in more than two decades (the last one was in 1987)—and sparked intense debate worldwide among physicians, researchers, Roman Catholic scholars, the clergy, and the general population. The 35-page document—widely seen as an effort by the Catholic Church to address a new generation of technologies used by more and more individuals and couples in the U.S. and around the globe—condemned “designer babies,” cloning, stem cell research, the genetic testing of embryos to discover imperfections, and a variety of contraceptive techniques. The Vatican also denounced most forms of fertility...