ART besides IUI and IVF?

[airmide_m]

Are there procedures for getting pregnant other than IUI and IVF? I have been reading in some books about GIFT and a few other procedures but I am wondering if those are really out of date or what? Since I never hear of them.

[YummyYarnAddict]

Originally Posted by airmide_m

Are there procedures for getting pregnant other than IUI and IVF? I have been reading in some books about GIFT and a few other procedures but I am wondering if those are really out of date or what? Since I never hear of them.

GIFT and ZIFT were done a bit back when I moved to IVF from IUI in 2001 but they were falling out of fashion then. I think it'd be difficult to find a clinic/doctor who is doing those procedures now. IUIs and IVFs with varying protocols are the main focus with a lot of talk about the move toward SET (single embryo transfer) in certain populations and low stim protocols for high fsh for IVF as "hot" topics. There's been a lot of work on drug development with a move from the glass ampules for stims to the new-fangled pens (I guess, not so new now, but I remember the amps too) and the nasal administration of some meds to make them more user friendly. And making more drugs available like Luveris and making a wider range of protocols for different issues. But, alas, no new actual procedure. There's also been a move away from the trend that we saw in the late 90's and the beginning of this century for day 5 blastocyst transfers back to day 3 transfers as many have come to believe embryologists and REs have come to believe that there is something -- they're not quite sure what -- that goes awry in the day 4 morula stage that may mean that they were not accurate when they hypothesized that it was necessarily the best embryos that made it to blastocyst stage in the lab and that they were perhaps losing embryos that would have done better (i.e., survived and resulted in take home babies) in the uterine envrionment). They have made more advancements on their ability to test embryos at these earlier stages too so you don't have to wait for PGD testing if you want to transfer an embryo instead of a blastocyst. .... these are just some of the changes that I've observed and have had my own cycles be affected by as I've cycled over the years and done the research. So the newer techniques have manifested themselves moreso in the lab and on the protocol level but not on the "outward" procedural level. It's still IUIs and IVF (at least in the US).

[airmide_m]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing all that information, and the time it took to type up!

I was hoping that we might be able to use another procedure rather than IVF since it looks like due to male factor we won't have success with IUI. I am also looking into IVF as well, if there are any places that will only fertalize as many eggs as they will transfer each cycle. Even then of course finacnes would be a huge concern, as well as knowing the effect it would have on me if/when they don't all implant. I was hoping there would be an alternative that woud drastically improve our chances but involve just putting eggs and sperm together without knowing whether or not they fertilize. I guess I still have a lot more research to do!

[crazyrunningmama]

Originally Posted by airmide_m

Wow, thank you so much for sharing all that information, and the time it took to type up!

I was hoping that we might be able to use another procedure rather than IVF since it looks like due to male factor we won't have success with IUI. I am also looking into IVF as well, if there are any places that will only fertalize as many eggs as they will transfer each cycle. Even then of course finacnes would be a huge concern, as well as knowing the effect it would have on me if/when they don't all implant. I was hoping there would be an alternative that woud drastically improve our chances but involve just putting eggs and sperm together without knowing whether or not they fertilize. I guess I still have a lot more research to do!

Depending on what the mf issues are, you might be looking at IVF with ICSI, which is even more expense but helps with most mf issues.
good luck

[marlee]

Natural cycle IVF or IVM

We too have male factor and need to use ICSI. I wasn't willing to use the medications to stimualte my ovaries as our issue didn't lie there. The sperm needed help to get to the egg.

Natural cycle IVF or IVM (invitro maturation) use no medications to stimulate the ovaries. Both procedures do ICSI in all cases, it doesn't cost extra.

The common thought is that IVM is for those with PCOS, which is true, but not exclusively. They used a natural cycle protocol with me which means they wait until the leading follicles are a larger size until retrival vs taking them out while small and maturing them which women with PCOS may need.

Our dd is a result of this as well as this pregnancy. We did a cycle in between which was sucessful but result in an early miscarriage. We did travel to have this done but that is the choice we made with what we were comfortable doing. I feel it has been the perfect match for our diagnosis with the least amount of medicaion.