The IVF Club

A Personal Blog About IVF Treatment & Infertility

Age and IVF

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Without doubt the strongest indicator of a women’s ability to fall pregnant is her age. From age 35, a women’s fertility starts to decline alarmingly rapidly. It is rare to find any research that contradicts this basic fact – it is harder to become pregnant as you age and harder to maintain a diagnosed pregnancy.

Between the ages of 25-29, your likelihood of getting pregnant visa IVF is between 45-50%. However, by age 40 your chances of conception are almost halved.

As depressing as this might be for those of use old enough to worry about our biological clock, many of us still live in hope that our dreams of becoming a mother are realised.  Without doubt I have pushed my body to its limits in doing repeated IVF cycles.  The toll it has taken on me both physically, emotionally and professionally has been significant.

Now, as I sit here contemplating my impending 40th birthday I wonder if all the pushing has been good for me.   However, if I asked myself if I would do it again then the answer would be a resounding yes. If I was younger, perhaps I would not do each cycle as close together as what I have done (4 stimulated cycles per year is quite intense) but do it I would.

Judging by the results of my my ovulation test kit this evening, I have a feeling that I will be ovulating sometime on my 40th birthday.  Which means I will be having the last of my frozen embryos transferred into my uterus.  If all else fails, then it is back to the clinic to start yet another IVF cycle.

Acupuncture Increases IVF Success Rate

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Over the past few years, there has been much debate over whether acupuncture is effective in improving the success rates of IVF.

A review of seven clinical trials of women who had acupuncture while undergoing embryo transfer suggests that acupuncture may increase your chance of pregnancy.  The studies covered over 1366 women and compared acupuncture, given within one day of embryo transfer, or no additional treatment.

The trials revealed that acupuncture given as a complement to IVF increased the odds of achieving pregnancy.  In this study, one in ten women or an additional 10% achieved pregnancy, however other studies claim success rates of 65%.

An approach such as this, would mean that acupuncture could be seen as an alternative method that may help improve the success rates.  Acupuncture has been used in China for centuries to help regulate the reproductive system. The earliest books on acupuncture date from 2500BC.

Further information on the study can be found at Science Daily. Alternatively, readers might be interested in viewing a Catalyst transcript on the ABC which features the benefits of acupuncture and IVF.

Readers interested in learning about acupuncture and acupressure can also visit Pathway2Pregnancy.

IVF Costs in Australia

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I always thought of IVF as expensive and while I still think it is, it is less expensive than in other countries. For example, in the United States IVF can cost up to around US $12,000.

This is pretty expensive when compared to the cost that Australians pay for IVF. For example, at a leading clinic in Melbourne Australia, the latest cost that I paid for IVF was around $6,900 excluding hospital costs. The hospital costs were $1,900 bringing the total cost of the treatment to AUD$8,800 (US$7,700). That’s a massive saving of over $4,000 for Australian IVF patients.

My upfront costs to the clinic were approximately $5,000 including medications. The difference in the cost is explained by the fact that the clinic and the health insurance fund does not charge the patient the full amount and waits to receive the rest of their payment via the government’s Medicare system.

Fortunately, my private health insurance covered the hospital costs. I received $3,700 back from Medicare six weeks after egg collection as I had reached my *Medicare Safety Net* threshold. So my total out of pocket cycle cost was $1,300. Expensive yes, but not as expensive as some of my overseas readers who do not get any rebates back.

Interestingly, the Government has announced that they will be revisiting the limits on the Medicare Safety Net threshold for IVF and may cap IVF limits. Details of this are not fully known but what is clear, is that the cost of IVF will be going up.

For overseas readers who do not understand the health system in Australia, the Medicare Safety Net effectively means that I can claim money back from the government from this calendar year because I had already spent a fortune on IVF and was entitled to a rebate.

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Vitamin D: Tips for IVF Success

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An interesting study has indicated that women have higher chances of achieving pregnancy if they have high levels of vitamin D in their serum and follicular fluid (FF) after IVF-embryo transfer.

The results of this study was published recently in the online edition of the journal, Fertility and Sterility. The study was conducted on 84 infertile women who were undergoing IVF to assess the link between IVF outcomes with vitamin D concentration.

Whilst vitamin D levels in the Follicular Fluid were inversely associated with body mass index, after adjustments, scientists observed significantly higher rates of clinical pregnancy and implantation when Vitamin D levels were higher.

This suggests that vitamin D supplements may enhance the outcome for infertile patients undergoing IVF as well as improving overall health.

Although vitamin D is known to play a key role in fetal bone growth, its exact role during fertilization and implantation is not really known. There is a need for scientists to now determine the appropriate doses of vitamin D that may help women during the preconception period and during pregnancy.

If you aren’t taking supplements, it might be a good idea since it is found naturally in many foods that are not often eaten. These foods include cod liver oil, fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines, herring; Vitamin D fortified milk and cereal, eggs.

Vitamin D is also added to milk and is manufactured in the skin as a result of direct exposure to sunlight.

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IVF and Your Sex Life

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It’s a pretty delicate topic I know but IVF is not conducive a good sex life. For a start, when you are doing a full stimulated cycle, the following passion killers are likely to, and do, happen:

1. You may bleed for several days after you expect your period to end because you have been taking a contraceptive pill since the start of your period
2. You experience intermittent spotting during your cycle whilst you are taking hormonal treatment
3. Quite likely you may bleed after egg collection and will be feeling quite sore and bloated for a couple of days
4. Your breasts may become sensitive to touch so any foreplay is just out of the question
5. Because you are inserting Crinone Gel to line your uterus, you worry that a pile of it will end up on your sheets (it does!)
6. You decide to avoid intercourse for the for 24 hours after transfer (just in case the embryo falls out)
7. Both of you will continue to avoid intercourse cause you are both scared your partners penis might dislodge the embryo (As if! But as IVF is so darn expensive you both don’t want to repeat the process)
8. You then get your period

I think this just about covers the two months when you are cycling. Of course, you do have breaks in between when things get back to normal – whatever that is. But after several cycles of doing this, combined with all that previous experience of trying to conceive, you sex life just diminishes. You know you need it to bring sexy back but it all becomes too hard during this time. Its pretty ironic that this is the case, given that the old testicles need to be used to produce good quality sperm. See my blog on sperm titled Keeping the River Flowing).

The good thing about not doing IVF: Bringing sexy back.

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