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 Seattle Reproductive Medicine
You will find below a general overview of what an IVF process entails. In this link entitled The 10 Step IVF Process, you will find more detail of how an IVF cycle gets started when you are a SRM patient. These details are meant as a general guideline only and serve as a reference only.
The actual timeline will depend on many factors, including your physician’s recommendation whether any more evaluation is needed or surgery needs to be done, how long testing takes to get completed, where you are in your menstrual cycle at the time of your initial consultation and how many IVF cycles are going at the same time as your desired timeline.
SRM is the largest practice in the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, to maintain the highest quality care and ultimately success, SRM does not like to run too many IVF cycles at the same time. We do run IVF cycles continuously for the your convenience and do not batch IVF cycles. Being the largest practice, our threshold for IVF cycles is very high so it very rare that an IVF cycle is delayed. The fastest timeframe is 2 months from the decision to proceed to knowing outcome of that cycle. We, of course, suggest to take as much time as you need to prepare.
SRM upholds to the principle that every patient is important from the first visit to every embryo in our laboratory. The education of the patient is of utmost importance. You have a primary nurse to field any questions via email or phone, visits with your physician culminating in a discussion of treatment plan and expectations, injection teaching class and finally the IVF seminar we encourage all our IVF patients to attend.
There is no single test or treatment for male factor infertility. The most useful test is a comprehensive semen analysis to determine sperm count and motility and the presence of infection. Treatment may include medication, intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
www.seattlefertility.com
1505 Westake Ave North, Suite 400
Seattle, WA 98109
Main: (206) 301-5000
Nurse Fax: (206) 285-1119
Embryology Fax: (206) 301-5096
Business Fax: (206) 285-4555
Overlake Reproductive Health
Dr. Johnson is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and is one of eleven board certified Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Specialists in Washington State. There are approximately 967 board certified Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Specialists in the entire country. Dr. Johnson has had a full time Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology / Infertility practice since 1991.
Dr. Johnson is a graduate of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. His residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology was completed at the University of Tennessee at Memphis in 1989 and he completed a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Johnson is a member of The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies, The Society of Reproductive Surgeons, The Society of Reproductive Endocrinologists, The Seattle Gynecological Society as well as the Washington State Medical Association. He is a nationally recognized expert in endometriosis and has given presentations at medical conferences and symposia across the country.
While the cause of a couple's infertility may be diagnosed solely on the basis of laboratory tests, and may be treated successfully with drug therapy, there are many other potential causes that may also warrant investigation. When structural abnormalities in the woman such as tubal disease, myomas or endometriosis are suspected, several additional tests and procedures may be required to identify the infertility factors. Some of these procedures may involve outpatient surgery.
Conditions such as tubal disease, adhesions (scar tissue), endometriosis, or the location of cysts or tumors can be accurately diagnosed. If an abnormality or disease is found, specialized instruments or lasers may be employed to correct the problem at the time of diagnosis. Additional small incisions in the lower abdomen may make it possible to remove adhesions, cysts or endometriosis, or even open obstructed fallopian tubes.
A diagnostic laparoscopy examination typically takes less than one hour and causes only mild discomfort for a day or two. Operative laparoscopy can take two or more hours, but still only causes mild discomfort for a day or two.
www.fertileweb.com
Overlake Reproductive Health
1135 116th Ave NE - Suite 640
Bellevue, Washington 98004
Washington State Fertility Clinic Infertility Services
IVF is a “first line” treatment for many of the conditions that cause infertility. It is an accepted medical procedure and thousands of healthy babies have been born as a result of in vitro fertilization. Before IVF came into routine clinical use, many couples, especially those with male factor infertility or tubal disease, had no hope of creating a genetically related child.
After successful super ovulation, and the administration of hCG, the eggs are collected from the ovaries using a procedure called ultrasound-guided transvaginal oocyte retrieval. This is performed in the operating room of the Washington Center for Reproductive Medicine under conscious sedation. The anesthesiologist starts an IV line and pain medication is administered to make the patient comfortable.
A minor surgical procedure is performed where an ultrasound probe is inserted into the vagina and by the use of a needle the follicles are aspirated. The embryologist
receives the eggs in the follicular fluid and identifies and separates the oocytes.
During the surgical portion of the procedure, we strive to make patients experiences as pleasant as possible. Usually patients leave the office within one to two hours
following egg retrieval and are prescribed pain medicine to deal with the mild discomfort associated with the egg retrieval process. Postoperatively, we keep in telephone contact with patients to make sure they are doing well. Dr. Kustin is available by telephone on a 24-hour basis should patients need his advice postoperatively.
After several days of culturing embryos in the laboratory, normally developing embryos are transferred into the uterus using a small catheter inserted through the cervix. Embryos are usually transferred on the third day after egg retrieval when they are at approximately the 8-cell stage. In some cases, the embryos are biopsied at this stage with removal of one cell for analysis by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This enables the embryos sex to be determined as well as the presence of certain chromosomal or genetic problems.
In certain cases, if the embryo quality on the third day is excellent, we may recommend that the embryos be cultured for a further two to three days until they develop into a blastocyst. The benefits of blastocyst transfer has a higher pregnancy rate because only the best embryos survive to the blastocyst stage. Apart from the higher pregnancy rate, the benefits of blastocyst transfer lie in the fact that fewer embryos need to be transferred, therefore, diminishing the risk of multiple pregnancies.
www.seattleivf.com
Washington Center for Reproductive Medicine.
1370 116 Th. Ave., NE, Suite 100
Bellevue, WA 98004IVF Clinics Bellingham : IVF Clinics Seattle : IVF Clinics Spokane |
