Natural Cycle IVF: Today and Tomorrow
USC Fertility is pleased to announce that is has launched a new study examining natural cycle IVF. In Part Three of a three-part blog about this exciting new project, we take a look at the state of the art in 2010—and where scientific research and advances will take us.
Natural cycle IVF (unstimulated IVF) is an exciting alternative to traditional stimulated IVF cycles. It appeals to patients because it is low risk, has lower costs than stimulated IVF, and is patient-friendly. Natural cycle IVF offers patients the IVF process with fewer medications (meaning less cost and fewer injections), fewer side effects, and fewer office visits (all of which leads to less stress). Additionally, there is no risk of hyperstimulation and less physical stress on the body as a result of the minimal amount of medication taken.
Natural cycle IVF provides women considered “poor responders” an opportunity to continue with the IVF process, even when ovarian stimulation has repetitively failed to produce multiple embryos. For those couples with infertility due to male factor (low or poor quality sperm), natural cycle IVF can provide an opportunity for fertilization through ICSI and at the same time avoid multiple pregnancies and unnecessary stimulation for an otherwise fertile female partner.
Though we already offer natural cycle IVF as a treatment option to our patients, we have not looked at the outcomes in a prospective nature and currently do not have enough patients who have recently undergone this type of treatment to make conclusions as to its ultimate effectiveness.
As you read in the last blog on this topic, natural cycle IVF has gained renewed interest, with several authors publishing their success with the technique. Natural cycle IVF has been touted as the new, gentler, kinder way to do IVF (thus the nickname “Gentle IVF”).
The goal of our study is to prospectively study women undergoing natural cycle IVF and their pregnancy outcomes. Our objective is to determine if the advances in technology over the last 20 years has improved pregnancy rates in the setting of natural cycle IVF to further validate its use for patients of all ages and varying prognosis. We are aiming to enroll a variety of patients, thus there are very few restrictions on who can be enrolled in the study.
Our primary objective is to gather live birth rates, miscarriage rates, and clinical pregnancy rates. Our secondary objective will be to gather data on number of eggs retrieved, number of immature eggs, fertilization rates and embryo number and quality, embryo implantation rates, and peak estrogen levels.
Our study of women undergoing natural cycle IVF is current under way. If you are interested, please make an appointment with one of our physicians (213-975-9990) to see if this treatment might be the right option for you.