General Infertility

About 85 million couples worried about infertility may research information via the internet

Success rates for the in vitro fertilization clinics, in the United States, are posted on the Center for Disease Control's website.

Statistics based on live births, take into account the success rate based on the number of babies born from in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles at the clinic.

Live-birth rates are lower than both chemical and clinical pregnancy rates.

Most conservative clinics shoot for ten to twelve as the ideal number of eggs to recruit.

Most clinics transfer approximately three embryos in each IVF transfer procedure performed.

A pregnancy rate based on either clinical or chemical pregnancies does tell you that the clinic is having some success, and it’s for you to determine whether it’s more important to know how many babies are actually born.

A pregnancy that implants and grows outside of the uterus and most commonly in the fallopian tubes is known as an ectopic pregnancy.

A molar pregnancy is a rare condition where abnormal placenta-like tissue grows within the uterus.

Often embryos with chromosomal defects do not survive and their demise triggers a miscarriage.

A ripe egg can survive for up to 24 hours after ovulation.

A normal pregnancy is supposed to last approximately 40 weeks. Pregnancy loss prior to 20 weeks is referred to as an early pregnancy loss.

A belly growing faster than expected and vaginal bleeding are both signs of a molar pregnancy.

A molar pregnancy is diagnosed with the combination of your symptoms, pelvic examination, blood hormone levels, and pelvic ultra sound.

Most couples are not sterile but merely subfertile, so they may be offered a range of therapeutic options.

Evaluation is the best option for a patient who has had two or three consecutive miscarriages

Women, who get pregnant (chemical or otherwise) and miscarry with IVF are more likely to go on and have a live birth than those who never get pregnant at all.

Both male and female partners can equally share the reasons for infertility.

Of all transfers, blastocyst transfer success rates are slightly higher, but a success rate of more than 70 to 75% is suspiciously high.

Be suspicious of any infertility clinic who claims a success rate over 65 percent; it’s really hard to achieve, even in the best fertility centers in the world.

As the guidelines to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report point out, if a clinic only did one Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) cycle, that clinic’s success rate is going to be either 100% or 0 percent, depending on whether that patient got pregnant.

Certain types of antibodies may also cause blood-clotting problems and other autoimmune issues.

Transferring two blastocyst may have better long-term results than transferring four eight-celled embryos

Average basal body temperature (BBT) range from 97.0 degrees to 97.7 degrees during the first half of a woman’s cycle and 97.7 to 99.0 during the second half. You can expect to see a jump of 0.4 to 0.8 degrees after you ovulate.

The egg has only 12 to 24 hours after ovulation to be fertilized, and if it doesn’t happen in that time, the egg dies.

All it takes is one sperm to penetrate a waiting egg in the fallopian tube and fertilization begins.

Most experts agree that if you successfully reach 13 weeks with a normal-appearing fetus and heartbeat on ultrasound, you will very likely go on to have a normal pregnancy

Infertility is commonly defined as the inability to achieve a pregnancy within 12 months of unprotected intercourse.

Couples are encouraged to seek evaluation for infertility if the woman is older than age 35 and they have been attempting pregnancy for a total of 6 months without success

Women who are more than 34 years old may elect to immediately consult with a reproductive endocrinologist.

Overall, most studies suggest a background risk of birth defects in naturally conceived children of approximately 4% to 5%.

For 10 to 15 percent of all infertile couples, a definite cause of the infertility cannot be identified. Such cases are referred to as unexplained infertility. However, some good news is as many as 60 percent of these couples will eventually conceive without treatment within three years.

Work, exercise, sex, minor falls, fears, stress, and/or morning sickness are not causes of a miscarriage.

A woman is born with a lifetime supply of eggs, while a man produces sperm every 100 days.

Sexual intercourse during ovulation is the only time you can get pregnant.

The largest cell in the body is a human egg, and it is only the size of a grain of sand.

The genetic material that provides the personal traits and characteristics of an individual are the chromosomes.

A human is made of 46 chromosomes. 23 of which are contained in the egg and 23 in the sperm.

The 23rd chromosome determines the sex of a human being. An egg contains only the X chromosome. Sperm contains both an X and a Y.

XX combination will always be a female, and XY will be a male.

The follicle, which is the sac holding the egg, bursts open and the egg is released during ovulation.

Fourteen days before your next menstrual bleeding is when ovulation usually occurs.

To be an OB/GYN, you must not only go through medical school, but you must also do a four-year residency specializing in women's health.

A reproductive endocrinologist is a fertility specialist. They not only have the same training as an OB/GYN, but also 2 or 3 more years of fertility and reproductive fellowship training.

Before expensive procedures, most people try a natural approach to fertility.

News & Science

Reproductive immunology is cutting-edge science.

There are over 400 infertility clinics in the U.S., according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which compiles statistics about treatment outcomes annually

The increased use of fertility services is the trend toward delayed childbearing.

Today, there are an estimated 1,000,000 in vitro fertilization (IVF) babies in the world.

Prior to the 1978 birth of Louise Brown, the world’s first baby conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), the options available to treat the infertile couple were limited to tubal microsurgery and ovulation induction with medications such as clomiphene citrate

The standardization of clinic success rates evolved from 1994 passage of the Fertility Clinic Success Rate Certification Act (the so-called Wyden Law), which seeks to protect U.S. consumers from inflated in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates.

Scientists have been freezing sperm since the 1960s and embryos since 1983, only about 100 babies have been born from frozen eggs worldwide.

Who might benefit from Stem Cell Research?

• Tens of thousands of infertile couples.
• 30,000 with Lou Gehrig’s disease.
• A quarter of a million paralyzed with spinal cord injuries.
• 1 million children with juvenile diabetes.
• 2.4 million burn victims per year.
• 4 million with Alzheimer’s disease.
• 8.2 million people with cancer.
• 10 million with osteoporosis.
• 43 million with arthritis.
• 58 million with heart disease.

The first successful ovarian tissue occurred in September 2004.

Since 1996 we have been freezing and saving ovaries for young women who have undergone potentially sterilizing chemotherapy or radiation for a variety of different cancers.

Microsort is a growing technology coming up with new and exciting innovations.

Because Microsort is still emerging, only limited information is available on the pregnancy rates, risks and outcomes.

Doctors have been using injectable fertility drugs in the United States since the 1960s.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) has brought the joy of parenthood to millions of couples worldwide.

Over its 27-year history it has evolved from the collaboration of two men, Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe, tinkering in a laboratory, to a common medical procedure.

In 2003, they created a mammalian egg outside the body for the first time. (256)

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in 2005 started imposing rules and regulations on fertility centers worldwide that allow them to shut down practices that don’t meet specific criteria.

In 2004, in St. Louis, we performed the first whole-ovary transplant using ventrification, and a young woman who was prematurely menopausal began to have normal periods, conceived several months later, and is now able to have her own genetic offspring.