Chat

Articles

Why you should transfer only a single blastocyst !

Today, our standard practice is to freeze all your embryos at a blastocyst ( Day 5) stage, and then transfer them after thawing them in the next cycle, one at a time. Here's why we think this is the best method for optimizing your chances of having a healthy baby. Le......

Read More
Why didn't my egg fertilise after ICSI ?

A patient just sent me this email. We had our 1st cycle in July this year with ICSI as I had just turned 45 years and my partner is same age, we had a very good grade 1 embryo put back but didn't implant. So we have just now had another cycle on the 24th November......

Read More
What can you do when your IVF doctor does not agree with you ?

Infertility presents a number of unusual challenges .   It is caused by a medical problem -  for example, blocked fallopian tubes,  or a low sperm count - and this means we can offer medical treatment for it, but the truth is that childlessness is a social label. This......

Read More
Was your IVF failure because of bad luck ? or because of a bad clinic ?

We all know that IVF does not have a 100% success rate, but when an IVF cycle fails, you are never sure what the reason for the failure was. Was it because of plain bad luck ? After all, why good looking embryos do not implant is still one of those things we do not un......

Read More
Poor quality IVF treatment

I received this tearful email from a patient. I have a very sad medical history .  I used to get extremely painful periods (I got my first periods at the age of around 14-15 years) where medical help was always required by me. The doctors in my home town could not und......

Read More
Why pregnancy rates are better with single Day 5 embryo ( blastocyst) transfers

Logically, one would expect that the pregnancy rate would be better if we transferred two embryos at a time, as compared to putting back only  one .  Yes, this is true if you calculate the success rate per transfer, but not true when you calculate the cumulative pregnan......

Read More
How confusing sperm test reports end up confusing patients

A patient just sent me his sperm test report, and he was feeling very guilty that he had not been able to get his wife pregnant, because his report was so abnormal ! This is a great example of a bad report, because the doctor is providing a clinical opinion based o......

Read More
Why PCO patients should induce a period every month

Polycystic ovarian disease ( PCOD) is a common cause of infertility. Typically, most of these patients have irregular cycles because they don't ovulate regularly. Now, because they don't ovulate, they don't get pregnant , and they don't get regular periods either . Th......

Read More
Why are IVF patients so reluctant to get a second opinion ?

If you are not happy with your IVF doctor, it's very logical that the next step should be to get a second opinion. However, most patients are extremely reluctant to do this .   For one, they have an existing relationship with their doctor , and they feel they will be......

Read More
The hurtful things people say to infertile women

One of the hazards of being infertile is having to cope with all the unsolicited advice you get from friends and relatives. Anyone who has had a baby thinks they are an expert on babymaking, and they are happy to give you tons of gratuitous and uncalled for advice The......

Read More