By Michalis Kyriakidis, MD, MSc, Gynecologist in Assisted Reproduction, Deputy Scientific Director in Embryolab Fertility Clinic.
Over the last decades, significant strides have been made to make assisted reproduction methods more successful and patient-friendly. It is now evident that the effectiveness of in vitro fertilization (IVF) is significantly related to the response of ovarian stimulation and the number of recruited oocytes.
A common misconception is that the medication used in IVF treatment will help grow more new eggs. Unfortunately, this is not true. Women are born with all of their eggs. The size of the initial ovarian reserve is strongly influenced by genetics. The ovarian stock of eggs is at maximum value in sixth month old embryos. Then this amount is only decreasing, as there is no new synthesis and differentiation.
Each menstrual cycle one egg is released by ovulation. In addition, the remaining follicles of this cycle are lost by atresia, a natural apoptotic process that breaks down the follicle.
IVF medications do not create new eggs but rather salvage and stimulate the growth of existing follicles.
Today, the most common approach is pharmacological ovarian stimulation, with the rationale that the response depends on the administered medications. IVF drugs contain a hormone called Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) which is produced also naturally by the pituary gland.
Our goal is to keep this hormone above a certain therapeutic level in order to recruit and obtain several mature eggs rather than just the one egg that is typically released.
The ultimate goal is obviously to increase the chances of success by increasing the number of oocytes collected.
Controlled ovarian stimulation is a fundamental step of your treatment, during which the optimal number of eggs is recruited and later collected in order to be fertilized and produce embryos for transfer. The guide to stimulating the ovaries is the treatment protocol. The term protocol refers to the type and dose of fertility drugs you may need, the combination of different substances and the path of your fertility plan. There are many different protocols available and, over time, assisted reproduction techniques have evolved to fulfill the needs of different types of patients.
Many will wonder about the risks and side-effects of stimulating IVF drugs.
Decades of experience and use of these drugs have not revealed any long-term risk of cancer or other gynecological disease. Fertility treatment is generally very safe and most who have it experience no problems with their health or pregnancy. Minor side-effects that appear during the treatment are temporary and the symptoms are fairly mild and will go away within a couple of days after the procedure.
In Embryolab, we believe that everyone should be aware of their fertility. We daily face challenges that could have been prevented. It is very important that we devote a couple of hours to understand our bodies, check our fertility and safeguard our future family and children.
Read more from Embryolab:
OHSS explained by Dr Kiriakidis of Embryolab Fertility Clinic in Greece
Your two-week wait questions answered by Dr Michael Kyriadikis of Embryolab
