What is the cause of my Failed IVFs?

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Question: My husband and I had gone through 3 IVFs without success, does it mean that our chance of pregnancy is very slim? Is it due to my body condition?

Dr Helena’s Answer: To achieve a successful pregnancy through IVF, there are some basic pre-requisite factors:

(1) The age of the couple, especially the female partner
(2) The duration of Subfertility
(3) good quality and quantity of eggs and sperms to make good quality embryos
(4) a conducive uterus environment for implantation

Studies had also shown that there is a increasing cumulative pregnancy rate for women who went through a few cycles of IVF.

However, after going through three IVF without success, one may wonder whether there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Being a fertility doctor, I can understand how frustrating it would be. However, these IVF cycles which did not work out, may contain valuable information about your fertility. As we know, apart from being a treatment in its own right, IVF also serve as a diagnostic tool in its own right, by telling us how you respond to the medications, how your eggs and sperms qualities are, and how your embryos qualities are.

There a a few aspects we may consider to improve on for your next IVF treatment:

The IVF treatment protocol
The clinic
The sperm
The eggs
The uterus

Here are some consideration for you:

(1) The IVF Treatment protocol.

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While the IVF treatment protocol is pretty standard, every patient responds differently to the types and dosage of IVF medication. Each cycle teaches us how your body responds to the injections to help your follicles grow. It takes a good IVF doctor to be able to decide on the right dose and right type of medications, to get you to produce an optimal number of high quality eggs. Some young patients with normal ovarian reserve grow well in response to a standard protocol, patients with poor ovarian reserve and those with PCOS need a lot of extra attention and closer monitoring.

However, at the end of the day, some of this is trial and error. A good previous record can help us to learn from each cycle , until we can customize the perfect protocol for you
(2) The IVF clinic/centre.

It is important to note most IVF clinic/ centre are pretty standard, there are variations in terms of their operations and quality controls, and hence their success rates. In Malaysia, there is still no regulatory body that mandates each IVF clinic/ centre to report their success rates. However, it is important to look for credible centres with proper accreditation to ensure the quality of your IVF treatment.

(3) The sperm.

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Poor sperm quantity & quality may be associated with failed fertilization of an egg during an IVF but with the advent of ICSI, these problems are easily over-come. However, if the sperms are have high DNA fragmentation, the resulting embryos may still have poor quality. Simple lifestyle changes such as stop smoking & alcohol, weight loose, exercise and consumption of good quality food which are rich in anti-oxidants are some of the key elements in improving sperm quality and IVF outcome

(4) The eggs.

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Human egg is a thousand times bigger than the sperm, and that the energy for cell division during embryo cleavage comes from the mitochondria in the egg’s cytoplasm, therefore, egg quality is another important factor for IVF success. Poor egg quality leads to poor embryos and hence failed IVF. The problem is that it’s very hard to make this diagnosis, as there is no blood tests or medical technology to identify poor eggs prior to an IVF cycle. In fact, IVF is a diagnostic tool in it own right, as egg quality can be assess during an IVF. To improve egg quality involves making lifestyle changes, improving diets, and sometimes some alternative medications such as DHEA.
(5) The uterus.

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It is probably a very Oriental or ‘Chinese’ believe that failure to get pregnant/ implantation is always the fault of the uterus. It is not unusually to hear the terminology of ‘cold uterus’ being cited for the reason for not getting pregnant. Hence, the idea of surrogacy has become very popular recently because of the disproportionate amount of media attention it attracts, and especially so when cross borders IVF had become extremely popular with the ease of medical access overseas. This had lead to the idea that the best medical solution for them after many failed IVF cycles is surrogacy. After all, the fact that the embryos are not implanting means the uterus must be ” defective” , so doesn’t it make sense to use a fertile woman’s uterus as an incubator for 9 months ? However, the truth is that surrogacy is an expensive and complex treatment option, which is best reserved for women without a uterus. It is also important to stress that Surrogacy is ILLEGAL in Malaysia. Research shows that the reason for failed implantation is much more likely to be genetically abnormal embryos ( because of poor quality sperms or eggs), rather than a uterine problem. However, in about 20-30% of women, failure in implantation maybe due to some small correctable issues in the uterus such as polyps or fibroids. These issues can be dealt with easily without having to resort to surrogacy

Is IVF Painful?

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Question: I am a person who is fearful of pain. I gathered that going through IVF will required multiple injections, surgery and other procedures which are painful. Is it true?

Dr Helena’s answer:

IVF sounds daunting to many people. A lot of us have perceptions that it is extremely expensive. Some of us thinks that it would bring us a lot of inconvenience, such as having to go to hospital everyday, lay in bed for a few months, quit our job and etc

One of the greatest fear many had was the perception of pain associated with IVF procedures. The thought of having daily injections made most of us wanting to run away and hide from the doctors. Some people are scared thinking about the egg retrieval procedures. Some are dreading the embryo transfer procedure, thinking that it would bring great pain and discomfort. Some dread the injections which are taken after the procedure, which are the progestogen injections, aimed to support the lining of the uterus whilst the embryos are implanting.

However, with the new development and breakthroughs in the world of reproductive medicine, IVF procedures had become more and more comfortable and easy to management, with minimal disruption to daily life.

First and foremost, the durations of injections had been shortened significantly with the use of antagonist injections in IVF. This method of doing IVF is called the antagonist cycle or the short protocol. So, instead of having 3 weeks of injections in the agonist cycle or long protocol, the advent of antagonist injections had lead to a shortened period of 10-12 days of injections. This had greatly reduce the discomfort one needs to go through with injections.
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The use of self-administered FSH injection pens with extremely fine needles, had significantly cut down the pain one experienced during injections. This self- administered injections pens are given to patients to take home, and the injections are administered by patients themselves, so patients do not need to come to the clinic or hospital to have their daily injections. The needles used are similar to the ones used in the insulin injection pens, which is extremely fine and almost painless.

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There is also another long acting FSH injection which given at the beginning of an IVF cycle and can last for 7 days. After the initial injection, the patient need not take FSH injection for the next 7 days, which significantly cuts down the number of injections required.

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The egg retrieval procedure which usually happened after 10-12 days of injections involved having a light sedation in an operating theatre. In the past, the use of certain sedations such as Valium, Dormicum or pethidine administered by the IVF doctors whilst performing the egg retrieval procedure had appeared to be increasingly unsafe. In many IVF units, a proper IVF operating theatre with a trained Anaesthetist giving sedation during the egg retrieval procedure is becoming a norm and deemed acceptable in terms of safety. One of the advantage of the involvement of an Anaesthetist is that egg retrieval procedure is becoming almost painless, and hence optimizing patient experience in IVF.

Embryo transfer procedure is usually carried out 3-5 days after the egg retrieval. During the procedure, the embryos which were created following fertilization of the retrieved eggs with sperms are replaced into the uterus. This procedure is performed without anaesthesia or sedation, is relatively pain free. The experience is almost the same as having a cervical smear. Therefore, women should not feel fearful about having an embryo transfer.

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After the embryo transfer, to support the uterus lining and to ease implantation, a
Progestogen is prescribed. In the past, progestogen is administered by injections. These injections are usually painful and cause local irritations, which is uncomfortable and unacceptable to many. With the advent of effective oral and vaginal suppository preparations, studies had shown that these forms of progestogen are equally effective in delivering progestogen to uterus, injectable progestogen had slowly becoming a thing of the past in many IVF centres. This has also greatly cut down the pain experience in IVF

In conclusion, with rapid modernization in reproductive medicine & technology, IVF had become relatively painless. It is importantly to find out more information on IVF before you embark on this journey.

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星洲日报：医识力-人多力量大，孩多好办事

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Double Joy, Double Trouble?

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The occurrence of identical twins after a single embryo transfer

Even after many years of being a doctor, it still brings me immense joy to announce to my patient that she is indeed pregnant following a successful infertility treatment. And sometimes, the happiness is multiplied, as there isn’t one, but two buns in the oven!

In general, it is widely known that the occurrence of multiple births is much higher following assisted reproductive technologies (ART) as compared to incidences of twins in natural or spontaneous pregnancies. This is directly related to the number of embryos transferred back to the uterus. In general, if 2 embryos are transferred back into the uterus, the chance of having twin pregnancies is around 20-30%. As we all know, twin pregnancies carries more risks to the expecting mother as well as the babies. The risks of miscarriage, bleeding in pregnancy, high blood pressure, diabetes in pregnancy, Placenta Praevias, Caesarean Sections are some of the significant obstetric risks. The babies are also at risk of preterm births, stillbirths and complications associated with preterm deliveries such as cerebral palsies.

Therefore, in many countries especially in the west, it is mandatory that the patients are informed of these risks before an embryo transfer. Some countries had restricted the number of embryos transferred to one. This move had significantly reduce the incidence of twins following an IVF and had reduced the economic burden associated with medical care of pregnancies associated with twins

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However, in recent years, it had been reported that there is a higher incidence of identical twins following single embryo transfer.

While the incidence of fraternal twins following the transfer of two embryos is an easily understandable consequence of IVF, the causes for identical twins after ART remain speculative at best. However, there is some evidence that attributes the phenomenon to the micromanipulation techniques, length of culture and culture medium used during treatment, as well as the genetics of the parents.

Identical twins, also known as monozygotic twinning or MZT, occur when an egg and a sperm unite to form a single zygote that divides into two embryos or separate individuals. It is a rare phenomenon, which occurs in only about 1% of natural conceptions. However, in assisted conceptions, the occurrence of monozygotic twinning almost doubles.

The splitting of the zygote into separate embryos can occur at any time during the first 2 weeks after fertilisation. However, the timing of the split will influence the type of identical twin. For example, in around 1/3 of MZT cases where the split occurs within 72 hours of fertilisation, the result is two placentas and two amniotic sacs. In the remaining 2/3 of MZT cases, the splitting occurs 4-8 days after fertilisation, resulting in one placenta and two amniotic sacs. And in about 5% of MZT cases, where splitting occurs 8-13 days after fertilisation, the outcome is one placenta and one amniotic sac. In very rare cases, the outcome is conjoined twins.

Although the prospect of having twins is certainly exciting, couples must also understand that twin pregnancies are considered high risk. They can lead to various pregnancy complications with long-lasting and even permanent effects for the children. These include caesarean section, premature birth, low birth weight, Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS), pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, fetal abnormalities and congenital abnomalies. In view of the complications that can arise from a twin pregnancy, do speak to your infertility consultant about the risks involved should you have any worries.

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