IVF In Vitro Fertilisation

• During the IVF procedure, an egg is removed from the female’s ovaries and fertilised with sperm in an embryology laboratory. The embryo is then returned to the womb to grow.

  The procedure can be carried out using patients own eggs and their partner’s sperm, or eggs/sperm from donors.

  Similar to many clinics in the USA, GRFC has replaced IVF procedures with ICSI. This is due to overwhelming evidence of better success rates using an ICSI procedure. A study analysed more than 140,000 cycles from across the UK and the results verified that live birth rates could be improved by 27% by using ICSI rather than IVF.

  ICSI Information Page

1. Why does GRFC just do ICSI and not IVF?

   We have had consistently had higher success rates with ICSI, and when Prof Nelson analysed more than 140,000 IVF and ICSI cycles from the all across the UK he found that you were 27% more likely to have a baby if you had ICSI irrespective of the cause of infertility. This initial finding was confirmed in another 100,000 cycles. Knowing this national and local data we are delighted that the move to only using only ICSI has helped us achieve the highest success rates in Scotland.

2. Are there any restrictions on physical or personal activities during an ivf cycle?

   • Smoking: Stop smoking before ovulation induction begins. It is best to discontinue tobacco at least 3 months prior to an IVF cycle. If you cannot stop “cold turkey”, seek the care of your general practitioner. By products of tobacco have been demonstrated to be toxic to eggs. Numerous studies have also demonstrated that smoking during pregnancy results in reduced birth weight and fetal compromise. There is some data that smoking can also lower pregnancy rates. We strongly recommend that all women and their partners, especially those undergoing fertility treatment, cease smoking.
   • Drinking: Alcohol is a drug, and should be avoided during fertility treatment and pregnancy. Please do not drink alcohol from the time fertility medications are started.
   • Medications: If you are taking any medication, prescription or over-the-counter, please inform your doctor. Some medications may interfere with the fertility medications prescribed, some are not safe to use before an operation or medical procedure, and others might interfere with ovulation or pregnancy implantation. A prenatal or multivitamin will be prescribed; if you are not taking a vitamin with folic acid, please inform the GRFC nurses. Please do not use herbal supplements during your IVF cycle.
   • An IVF cycle can be an emotional and stressful time. It may be helpful to have supportive people to speak to, such as friends and family, a clergy member, or one of our counselling team.
   • Heavy exercise such as aerobics, jogging, weight lifting etc. are not recommended during ovarian stimulation and until the pregnancy test results are known.
   • Acupuncture is permitted prior, during and after your IVF cycle but herbal supplements are not recommended.

3. What happens if I become pregnant?

   If pregnant, you will be asked to return to the clinic for an ultrasound to ensure an ongoing successful pregnancy. After a fetal heartbeat has been confirmed, patients are referred to an obstetrician for the remainder of the pregnancy.

4. If I am not pregnant, when can we try again?

   Usually we ask that patients wait one or two complete menstrual cycles before beginning another Assisted Reproductive Treatment cycle. Sometimes tests are required that may delay subsequent cycles.

5. Is there a higher miscarriage rate for IVF patients?

   The miscarriage rate is about the same for Assisted Reproductive Treatment as the general population. Many times older females undergo IVF and their miscarriage rates are naturally higher. Since pregnancy testing is done two weeks after embryo transfer, we often know about spontaneous miscarriages in the very early stages of pregnancy. These miscarriages would probably go unnoticed in the general population.

6. Am I depleting my store of eggs by undergoing an IVF cycle?

   A woman is born with a full complement of eggs. There are far more eggs than will ever be used during a normal lifetime and IVF procedures have no measurable “lowering” effects.

7. How do we decide how many embryos to transfer?

   Your doctor will discuss this with you at the time of consent signing, but we usually follow the recommendations of The Human Fertilisation and Embryology and the British Fertility Society guidelines to limit the chance of you having a triplet pregnancy. We would normally transfer one or two embryos and the number will vary depending on individual diagnosis and clinical circumstance.

8. Do you have any age or BMI limits to treatment?

   For women using their own eggs we treat up to the age of 45 years old, and for women using an egg donor, it is 50 years.

   We want to ensure that you have the best possible chance of having a healthy pregnancy, and so we adhere to British Fertility Society Guidelines on an upper body mass index limit of 35 kg/m2.

   For those women who need to lose weight, we recommend the Counterweight Plus scheme which has been endorsed by the NHS.

9. Why is IVF the same cost as ICSI?

   We have focused on getting the highest success rates in Scotland, and with that streamlined all processes so that everyone gets ICSI. Should you wish IVF, that would be unusual in our lab and we would need to dedicate personnel to your case.

Fees

Our full price list can be found here for download. Should you have any questions about the fees, please contact us on 0141 956 0509 and speak to a member of staff.