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Fertility Matters

When is the right time to seek help if you’re trying for a baby? General guidelines
suggest that after 18-24 months of unsuccessfully trying, a couple should
contact their primary healthcare provider. The truth is that there is a very real
biological timeline for women. It’s a known fact that fertility for women starts to
decline after the age of 35 but evidence is also suggesting that men have a
biological clock too. So, what steps can be taken to assess fertility?

Diagnostic testing
There are several tests that can be done for both men and women to assess their
baseline fertility. For women, the tests are used to determine their ovarian reserve; in short – how many eggs do they still
have? There are two tests that can be done. The first is a blood test that checks the levels of AMH or Anti -Müllerian Hormone.
The second is an internal pelvic scan to assess the number of follicles in the ovaries. These combined can give a good indication
of fertility in women. For men, the main test that is advised is a semen analysis which looks at the quality and quantity of
sperm to determine the fertility. In men over 40, an additional test may be advised which assesses the DNA quality of sperm.

Treatment options
Male/Female couples – the most common treatment option for couples is IVF. This involves collecting eggs from the female
partner’s ovaries after giving medications for 10-12 days and inseminating them with the male partner’s sperm. The embryos
are then cultured in the lab for 3-6 days after which the best embryo(s) will be transferred back to the uterus and any extra
embryos will be frozen. In cases where the sperm parameters are lower than average, ICSI will be used. This involves injecting
a single sperm straight into the egg. Couples may also decide to test their embryos prior to transfer to ensure that the embryo
is genetically healthy – this is called PGT-A testing.

Same-Sex Female couples – for these couples an IUI (intrauterine insemination) is usually the first option given. This involves
donor sperm being prepared in the lab and then deposited straight into the uterus using a thin catheter around the time of
ovulation. Alternatively, couples may decide to go straight for IVF with donor sperm.

Single women – for women looking to preserve their fertility, the best option is egg freezing. This process involves collecting
eggs from the ovaries, like IVF, but then freezing the eggs on the day of the egg collection. This then preserves the fertility
and quality of the eggs until future use. Single women who want to get pregnant rather than preserve, can choose to have
an IUI with donor sperm or IVF.

Egg Donation - women over the age of 40 may decide to go ahead with egg donation. These are eggs that have been donated
by younger women for others to use to achieve their families. The donors are usually under the age of 30 so are of good
quality.

Artificial Intelligence
Recent developments in AI have been used to create embryo scoring technologies in the IVF Lab. Egg scoring is now being
used to give eggs that are going to be frozen a score to highlight their potential for a healthy baby. The same technology is
also used to give embryos a score. The embryologists use these scores when deciding which is the
best embryo for transfer.

Alpesh Dpshi - Founder of IVF London - info@ivflondon.co.uk
www.ivflondon.co.uk

020 8075 8881 www.ivflondon.co.uk info@ivflondon.co.uk