Soft-IVF™

Compared with conventional In Vitro Fertilization, Soft-IVF™ uses much milder ovarian stimulation which, for some patients, can result in the development of higher quality eggs.

 

There is a significant reduction in the treatment cost and number of office visits (typically three to five visits per treatment) compared with traditional In Vitro Fertilization.

 

Qualified candidates for Soft-IVF should expect a 25% to 33% probability of a successful outcome per procedure. Soft-IVF can be a very effective treatment for male factor infertility and has also been used as a treatment option for "low responders".

 

Soft-IVF™ Procedure

 

Your ovaries are stimulated to produce multiple eggs, the eggs are retrieved, inseminated with sperm from your partner, incubated, and one or more of the resulting embryos are transferred into the uterus.

 

 

Medications are given as pills (oral contraceptives, Clomid) or very small injections just under the skin (Lupron, HCG).

 

This is an example of a Soft-IVF treatment sequence. Actual treatment is individualized:

 

 

 

Soft-IVF treatment consists of the following five steps:

1. Ovarian Stimulation

    

   Oral contraceptives are used initially to prime the ovaries for optimal response. Your menstrual period will start approximately three days after your last oral contraceptive pill.

    

   In the morning of cycle day three, you will have a Lupron injection. The volume of the Lupron injection is very small and it is given subcutaneously (just under the skin). Lupron starts the ovarian stimulation. In the evening of the same day, you will start taking Clomid tablets daily for a total of eight days (cycle day three to ten). This ovarian stimulation typically results in the development of two to five eggs within the ovaries.

    

   An ultrasound is performed on cycle day eleven to assess the number and size of the developing ovarian follicles (grape-like “blisters” containing eggs). You may need one or more additional ultrasounds on the following day(s). Once the size of the follicles indicates that the eggs are mature, you will have an HCG hormone injection also given subcutaneously. This medication triggers the final stages of egg maturation.

    

   The ultrasound image below shows a stimulated ovary. Each of the grape-like follicles (dark circles) contains a microscopic egg.

    

   

    

    

2. Egg Retrieval

    

   Thirty-five hours after the HCG injection, the egg retrieval procedure is performed in our center. This is normally a 5 to 10 minute procedure. We use conscious sedation for analgesia, and your partner is invited to join you for the egg retrieval.

    

   Using ultrasound guidance, a thin aspirating needle is passed through the top of the vagina into the follicles. Only the tip of the aspirating needle enters the follicles and the follicular fluid is aspirated from them. The fluid is examined under a microscope to identify the eggs. Since the ovaries are located just above the vagina, the tip of the needle does not penetrate the uterus, cervix, or the Fallopian tubes.

    

3. Fertilization

    

   The male partner collects a semen specimen by masturbation the morning of the egg retrieval. Immediately following the egg retrieval, the highest quality sperm are extracted from the semen sample and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is performed to maximize the probability of normal fertilization. In ICSI, a single sperm is inserted directly into an egg using micromanipulators.

    

   If there are enough eggs available, a combination of ICSI and in vitro fertilization is performed. With in vitro fertilization, each egg has 50,000 highest quality sperm added to it in a petri dish and overnight one of the sperm should penetrate the egg shell and fertilize the egg.

    

   The next day, eggs are examined for signs of fertilization. A fertilized egg (zygote) will show two pronuclei representing the genetic material from the egg and sperm (see image below).

    

   The following day, embryos reach 4 cells, the day after, 8 cells and by the fifth day after the egg retrieval, the embryos should reach the blastocyst stage.

     Fertilized Egg

  Four Cell Embryo

   Eight Cell Embryo

       Blastocyst

4. Embryo Transfer

    

   The embryo transfer is performed one to five days after the egg retrieval procedure. The embryo(s) is/are "loaded" into the tip of a very thin embryo transfer catheter containing a very small amount of transfer medium. The catheter is then passed through the cervical canal to the top of the uterus and the embryo(s) are gently released.

   
   If there are more embryos available the day of embryo transfer than the number of embryos you wish to have transferred, these additional embryos can be further cultured to a blastocyst, cryopreserved, and stored in liquid nitrogen for potential future use.

    

5. Establishment of Pregnancy

    

   Ovarian progesterone production is supplemented with three Lupron injections identical to the Lupron injection you took at the beginning of your ovarian stimulation.

    

   A blood pregnancy test is scheduled two weeks after the egg retrieval. A fetal heartbeat ultrasound is performed two weeks and two days after a positive pregnancy test.

    

   

    

   The ultrasound picture on the left shows a six week pregnancy. The pregnancy sac is approximately 25 mm in diameter. The baby inside the sac is about 13 mm long, and yet it is possible to already distinguish the head and the "tail" portion of the baby's body as well as strong cardiac activity.

    

   At this point, your pregnancy becomes indistinguishable from a conception through intercourse.

For additional in-depth information, please see Soft-IVF Treatment Protocol, Pregnancy Probability, Soft-IVF Cost, Soft-IVF Prerequisites, and IVF or Soft-IVF Treatment? document.

 

If you have any questions regarding Soft-IVF or to request an appointment, please contact us by phone at 650-322-0500, via email at care@BayIVF.com, or use the Contact Bay IVF Center form on this page.

 

Please visit softivf.com for additional information related to the Soft-IVF treatment.