Listen to Lisa as she talks about coming back with a positive pregnancy test after just one cycle of Mini-IVF™ and a single embryo transfer!

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SART) called on the fertility care community to expand the practice of single embryo transfers (SET) when performing in vitro fertilization procedures.  The societies made the announcement last week at ASRM’s 67th Annual Meeting in Orlando.

New Hope Fertility Center has been a longtime advocate of the practice of SET and continually push for its increased use in the fertility care field.  As we’ve reported before, SET is essential when conducting more patient-centered care, as it decreases the health risks associated with multiple pregnancies.  In addition, the practice of SET lessens the chance for unnecessary procedures, such as pregnancy reduction, and cuts back costs associated with perinatal and neonatal care often needed in the case of high risk births due to multiple embryo transfers.

The report also aligns with New Hope’s observations on single embryo transfer success rates.  As the report states, “clinics promoting eSET (elective single embryo transfer) may be at a disadvantage as they appear to have lower ‘success’ rates than those utilizing DET even though the total ‘success’ rates are comparable” (source: ASRM/SART Practice Committees).  This evidence only serves to strengthen the call for more SET, as it shows the practice still has healthy success rates, while also serving to promote the use of the method in an effort to popularize customized fertility care.

While the committees are understandably concerned about push back from patients desiring twins and those concerned with the potential of having to pay for additional IVF treatment if the first round of IVF fails, the ultimate goal of spreading the practice of SET is to increase the chance of a healthy pregnancy.  With the right amount of patient education, fertility care experts can ensure their patients understand SET considers long-term cost effectiveness, as it reduces the chance of multiple births that eventually acquire more healthcare costs due to complications from low birth weights, premature births and other issues.

You can read the full report from ASRM and SART’s Practice Committees here, and visit us to learn more about our “One Good Egg” and single embryo transfer policies.

A few IVF success stories to congratulate:

1) 32 y/o came to New Hope Fertility with secondary infertility. She conceived from a frozen blastocyst transfer from a Clomid-only Mini-IVF™ cycle. She is pregnant with twins after a single embryo transfer! Congratulations!

2) 40 y/o is pregnant with her first child, conceived from frozen blastocyst transfer from a Natural IVF LPS (Luteal Phase Stimulation) cycle. (LPS is a cutting-edge assisted reproductive technology technique unique to New Hope Fertility Center, that you can read more on here.) Congrats!

3) 48 y/o came to New Hope with a history of secondary infertility. She completed one donor frozen embryo transfer cycle and recently came back with a positive pregnancy test. Congrats!

4) 42 y/o came to New Hope with a history of primary infertility. She completed one donor frozen embryo transfer cycle and recently came back with a positive pregnancy test. Congratulations!

5) Patient came to New Hope with a history of secondary infertility. After completing one Mini-IVF™ cycle with a frozen embryo transfer she recently came back with a positive pregnancy test. Congrats!

A couple of IVF success stories from New Hope NYC:

1) 41 y/o came to NHFC with a history of primary infertility.  She recently came back with a positive pregnancy test after a day-5 frozen embryo transfer from Mini-IVF™.  Congratulations!

2) 31 y/o came to New Hope with a history of primary infertility.  She completed 1 Mini-IVF™ cycle to freeze her embryos and had a day-6 fresh single embryo transfer from a Natural IVF cycle.  She recently came back with a positive pregnancy.  Congrats!

…And some recent IVF success stories from New Hope Mexico!

1) 37 y/o with unknown infertility issues completed one Mini-IVF™ cycle at NHFC Mexico and came back with a positive pregnancy test after her first blastocyst transfer.  Congrats!

3) 39 y/o with poor ovarian reserve and tubal factor infertility returned with a positive pregnancy test after her first transfer from a Natural IVF cycle.  Congratulations!

A recent study in The Journal of the American Medical Association reveals the connection between preterm births and premature death in childhood and adulthood.

According to researchers from Stanford University and Lund University in Sweden, “low gestational age at birth was independently associated with increased mortality in early childhood and young adulthood.”  These observations support the researchers’ call to develop protocols within the healthcare system that will work towards preventing premature births and therefore decrease the stress and costs associated with complications that arise from them.

This particular study also underscores the importance of New Hope Fertility Center’s single embryo transfer (SET) protocols.  Low gestational age and the resulting low birth weights are common complications that arise from multiple pregnancies (see this story, which highlights such issues). When it comes to IVF treatments, they are downsides tha can be easily avoided with the practice of SET.

As this study shows that premature births are correlated with higher chances of disease and premature mortality, it adds to the growing body of research encouraging the practice of SET among fertility care specialists.  It is now understood that multiple births not only have immediate health risks for both mother and child, but potential health risks down the road if multiples are born too early (which they often are).

Please feel free to continue reading more about our low risk protocols.