Since its founding in 2004, New Hope Fertility has always strived to bring safer and more effective IVF practices to the forefront of fertility care.

A leading advocate of Single Embryo Transfers (eSET), our protocols support a less is more philosophy.  When it comes to your fertility care, we believe in less danger and more safety for the mother and child.  This means transferring less embryos during your IVF treatment to ensure we can fulfill this peace of mind.  A recent study published in the March edition of Fertility and Sterility supports the safety and efficacy of eSET.

In the study, the health of two singletons from the same mother (eSET) and the health of IVF twins and their mother (double embryo transfer) were the primary focus.

The findings? The health conditions of the mother and child following eSET treatments were much more favorable than that of IVF twins:

The neonatal and maternal outcomes were dramatically better for women undergoing two IVF singleton pregnancies compared with one IVF twin pregnancy after double-embryo transfers.

Not only were IVF twins born “very” pre-term with significantly lower birth weights, but were reported as having more serious complications, including respiratory issues and jaundice (a yellow complexion associated with too much bilirubin in the blood that can lead to birth defects).  Mothers who elected for double-embryo transfers were more likely to experience pre-eclampsia and go into labor early, too.

We’re always thrilled to read more research that supports our most important protocols. To read more on our minimally invasive approach to IVF, visit us on the web or schedule a consultation.

Here’s to spreading safer and more effective practices!

Like most events in our lives, the process of in vitro fertilization is emotionally charged. Not only are you embarking on a life-changing journey, but choosing a path unfamiliar and different than those taken by your female counterparts. Tack on the financial burden of treatment and IVF is considerably more mentally challenging than you thought before.

That’s where New Hope Fertility comes in. Understanding the internal struggles presented during someone’s first, second, or third cycle, we’ve developed customizable IVF treatments that not only reduce the cost of treatment, but significantly reduce the mental and physical stress involved in the process.

Mini-IVF™ and frozen embryo transfers are just a couple examples of how New Hope helps our patients get pregnant through minimal stimulation (less medication) at a lower cost. Recent research suggests that frozen embryo transfers — freezing embryos from one cycle and transferring them in a subsequent cycle — decrease the chance of failed transfer or miscarriage since the embryo is being transferred into a less-stimulated uterine environment.  Less medication and taking less risks during an initial cycle (when an egg is retrieved and transferred in the same rotation) increase the health of a woman’s uterine environment and therefore increases the chance of success with her first batch of embryos (rather than placing fresh embryos into an overstimulated environment).

We recently had a couple women have success with Mini-IVF™ and frozen embryo transfers. Both 36-years-old, these two patients arrived at our center suffering from primary infertility. Each woman completed 2 Mini-IVF™ cycles in order to freeze embryos and after their (single) frozen embryo transfers, got pregnant. Congratulations to both Ms. 36s!

For more information our treatments, that can reduce the stress and cost of IVF treatment, please schedule a consultation.

photo credit: iStock.com

For those of you who have experienced the pain of loss in the form of miscarriage or failed IVF cycles, the idea of trying again or moving on to another cycle can be a grueling.

As if infertility itself were not enough to deal with, the build up of hope and subsequent loss of your IVF cycle is devastating. For many women, trying again is simply not an option — financially or emotionally. But for some, like Celine Dion, not trying again is unimaginable. When it comes to a dream like motherhood, it’s understandable that many women and couples just don’t give up.

Below, you’ll read our recent IVF success stories from women who failed multiple IVF cycles and finally succeeded. As we welcome 2013, we also welcome the inspiration stories like these bring to those of you struggling with the decision of whether to try again or not. At the end of the day, it is your world and entirely up to you!

Our first success story comes from Ms. 30, who arrived at New Hope dealing with infertility related to her endometriosis. Completing a few Mini-IVF™ cycles to freeze several embryos, she subsequently underwent a cystectomy to remove unwanted endometrial cyst from her right ovary. Ms. 30 had not 1 but 2 unsuccessful cycles before finally getting pregnant on her third — and it was a single embryo transfer!

Our second success story is from Ms. 35. Ms. 35 came to New Hope struggling with secondary infertility — problems conceiving with a second child — and completed several cycles to freeze multiple embryos. After her first frozen embryo transfer she got pregnant, but miscarried after 12 weeks. Choosing to press ahead, she returned to complete another Mini–IVF™ cycle and transfer and got pregnant. She also had four fertilized eggs to freeze until a later date.

Congrats to our two recent graduates!

As seen in this morning’s Wall Street Journal article titled “New Strategy May Help Success of In Vitro Fertilization,” recent studies within the fertility care field are linking frozen embryo transfers with an increase in healthy pregnancies following IVF treatment.

The “3 separate randomized and controlled studies involving 633 women with an average age of 35″ fairly represent the group of couples we’ve helped get pregnant with frozen embryo transfers: New Hope’s latest SART statistics show 44% of our patients age 35 and under achieved a healthy pregnancy following frozen embryo transfers, and 64% of our patients got pregnant using frozen donor embryos.

Frozen embryo transfers (FET) have indeed produced high rates of success at our clinic, and we continue to encourage the practice when counseling our patients.  Not only do FETs increase chances of healthy pregnancy and live births, but the process with which we freeze them also contributes to the health of embryos.  Vitrification, a flash-freezing method we’ve utilized since our center opened in 2004, has a 98% thaw survival rate here at New Hope, giving our patients peace of mind with every frozen embryo transferred.

The practice of frozen embryo transfers also encourages the practice of single embryo transfers. Because frozen embryos increase the chance of pregnancy, FETs subsequently decrease the need to transfer more than 1 embryo at a time.  Single embryo transfers, along with our minimal stimulation protocols like Mini-IVF™ and Natural Cycle IVF, significantly decrease risks associated with multiple births.  At the hands of our experienced team of fertility specialists, we’ve been able to prove time and again that with these methods combined, IVF can be safe and more cost-effective for patients wishing to get pregnant without overstimulation.

Read more of our success stories involving frozen embryo transfers here.

Suffering from secondary infertility (having trouble conceiving with a second child) or experiencing trouble conceiving after entering your 30s?  You’re not alone.  At New Hope Fertility, we meet many women who face this harsh reality, even if they had no trouble conceiving with their first child.

For many women, trouble getting pregnant in their 30s is due to diminished ovarian reserve, which can be caused by high FSH levels or reproductive disorders like PCOS.  High FSH levels are associated with a decrease in ovarian function and get higher as a woman ages, which can occur more abruptly with some women in their 30s compared to their fertile counterparts of the same age.  Health issues like PCOS can result in follicles being underdeveloped or, in worst case scenarios, completely absent because of the presence of cysts.  And finally tubal issues, often resulting from scar tissue related to childbirth or pelvic inflammatory disease, are very common for women in their 30s, which can also inhibit the ability to conceive and sometimes cause miscarriages.

Our doctors recently helped a few of patients in their 30s get pregnant with our minimal stimulation IVF protocols.

Our first patient was a 36-year-old who had trouble getting pregnant with her second child.  Because Ms. 36 was young and otherwise healthy, we chose to treat her with our Mini-IVF™ treatment, which uses less hormone drugs than conventional IVF protocols. After her single embryo transfer, which we utilize to mimic the body’s naturally occurring processes, we’re happy to announce that Ms. 36 got pregnant. Congratulations, Ms. 36!

Our second success story involved a 31-year-old who came to New Hope with a history of secondary infertility.   With the embryos she had frozen at another clinic, we tried two frozen embryo transfers, which unfortunately did not take.  On Ms. 31′s third frozen embryo transfer, however, she got pregnant. Congrats Ms. 31!

Our third IVF success story helped a 38-year-old with a history of miscarriage.  Like Ms. 36, she completed 1 Mini-IVF cycle. After freezing her embryos she had an unsuccessful frozen embryo transfer, but a month later she had another and got pregnant.  Congrats Ms. 38!

For more success stories like these, head over to our Success Stories section on our blog and or our website.  Congrats to Ms. 36, Ms. 31 & Ms. 38!

With the Jones quintuplets currently claiming the NICU at Southwestern Medical Center as their temporary home, now could not be a more appropriate time to highlight the benefits of minimal stimulation IVF.

Conceived through injectable IUIs, the Jones quintuplets, who range from 1 pounds 12 ounces to 2 pounds 11 ounces, are a prime example of injectable IUIs leading to high risk multiple births.  According to our resident fertility specialist Dr. Lyndon Chang, “many, if not most, higher level gestations (triplets, quads, quints) are not from IVF, but from injectable IUIs, which are unnecessary and dangerous.”

That being said, the time has come for those in the assisted reproduction community to start adopting and utilizing more minimally invasive fertility treatments. Mini-IVF™ harnesses the power of nature by relying more on the body’s naturally occurring processes and less on copious amounts of injectable fertility medications. In addition, the treatment lessens the risks (ie. OHSS) that come with producing an overabundance of eggs, which often happens with conventional treatments.

At New Hope, we’ve had a couple of recent IVF success stories using our trademarked Mini-IVF™ treatment.  Our first such case involved a 29-year old struggling with primary infertility.  After just 1 Mini-IVF™ cycle and a single embryo transfer, she got pregnant.  Her particular treatment demonstrates both cost-effectiveness (1 cycle, no injectables) and safety (we transferred just one embryo, as would happen in nature).

Our second IVF success story is similar to our first and involved a  31-year-old also suffering from primary infertility.  She also completed just 1 Mini-IVF™ cycle and chose to freeze her embryos.  After transferring just one of those embryos, she also achieved a successful pregnancy.

Both women are great examples of how safe and cost-effective fertility treatments like Mini-IVF™ (also known as Low Dose IVF, IVF Lite, and Green IVF) work.  Not only do they save future parents money during treatment, but also cut down on neonatal healthcare costs since they greatly reduce the chance of getting pregnant with multiples, which are risky for both mother and child.

As we pray for the Jones’ quints as they get stronger in the NICU, the assisted reproduction community cannot wait any longer in letting those undergoing fertility treatments know there are safer and more cost-effective options out there.

Make sure to ask your fertility specialist about low dose and single embryo protocols.