If you have been trying to conceive for a year or longer without having any luck, then you may be thinking ahead to possible fertility treatments, of which Mini IVF may emerge as one of your options.
What is Mini IVF?
Mini IVF, or In Vitro Fertilization, is based on the same techniques as regular IVF. However, it is a less aggressive and less costly technique. Mini IVF is the method of choice for many older women who wish to get pregnant because it isn’t as expensive as conventional IVF, and avoids the hyperstimulation associated with IVF, as well.
Mini IVF was developed in Japan as part of the Kato Clinic-St. Luke’s Collaborative Program.
In contrast to regular IVF, Mini In Vitro Fertilization is designed to retrieve just a few high quality eggs rather than large numbers of mediocre eggs.
One of the perks of Mini IVF is that it completely eliminates the risk of hyperstimulation syndrome, in which a fluid imbalance causes dehydration due to body fluids that accumulate in the abdomen.
As an added bonus, there are fewer injections, and no painful progesterone injections to take.
To make it even better, the cost is only a fraction of conventional In Vitro Fertilization!
With Mini IVF, a woman is given a low dosage of Clomid (a fertility drug used to stimulate ovulation) on the third day of her menstrual period. She will continue on the Clomid until ultrasound shows that ovulation is about to occur.
Continuing to take Clomid reduces the risk of premature ovulation while allowing plenty of time for the development of high quality eggs for the In Vitro Fertilization procedure.
Clomid results in very high quality eggs, but unfortunately it can also inhibit development of the lining of the uterus for embryo implantation.
This problem can be solved by freezing the embryos in a process called vitrification, which was also developed by the Japanese Kato Clinic and St. Luke’s Hospital of St. Louis, MO.
This method of freezing the embryos is safe because the embryos suffer no damage and the chance of success is as high as fresh, unfrozen embryos.
Another definite benefit of vitrification is that allows the transfer of only one embryo at a time, eliminating the risk of multiple pregnancies.
Since older mothers-to-be have a lower success rate of conception, the Mini IVF procedure might be better because the cost will be much less for multiple attempts.
