How to improve your egg quality

If you are fortunate, you may already know that you have good quality eggs. However, if you have reason to doubt the situation, then you may wish to try to “maximize” egg quality. Lifestyle matters: sleep well, quit smoking, and minimize caffeine to one cup of coffee a day.

You may also wish to consider dietary supplements: you take them for 2-6 months to be effective. You will find if they are going to work, pregnancy should happen quickly. Six months will be trial enough.

AMH: why it is so useful

There are many tests of ovarian reserve but the best one is AMH. This post describes why we like it so much. While no one test is the be-all and end-all, AMH is extremely helpful.

Are fertility treatments safe for babies?

Babies conceived through IVF may have increased risks for preterm births and other complications. It may be worth considering how such risks may (or may not) apply to you…especially if you are planning to transfer more than one embryo.

Sperm and Eggs for everyone? Not yet, but when we succeed with mice, the clinic won’t be too far behind

The fundamental building blocks to fertility success include good quality eggs and sperm.

For patients afflicted with either very low ovarian reserve or azoospermia (no sperm), choices today are limited. Couples must consider donor eggs or donor sperm. Until recently, science hasn’t had much more to offer. We do not have anything new to offer clinically right now, but the hope is that in a few years we will be able to “build” eggs and sperm from stem cells for every patient. Could this mean the end of menopause, for example? The implications are profound, which is why I am posting some basic research here today.

Fertility regulations in Canada: yes they are difficult to understand

From time to time you may bump up against the some of the rules and regulations that govern our particular field. For example, you are probably asked to sign a “Section 8″ consent when you first walk through the door. This is a requirement of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act.
Dr Elinor Wilson has worked in combination [...]

Prions and fertility medications

In Canada, the main three injectable medications, in alphabetic order, are Gonal F, Menopur, and Puregon. In different countries, they will have different names (in the USA for example Puregon is called Follistim) but worldwide these are the three leading products.

Gonal F and Puregon are synthesized in the lab. Menopur, however, is a human urine-derived product. And therein lies its strength, and its potential weakness.

Pre conception folic acid

For years, we have been encouraging women to take folic acid, or folate, while they are trying to conceive and  through the first trimester of pregnancy.
 
Folic acid helps cells to divide and grow. In this way,the vitamin will help the spine fuse properly during embryo development. Since the widespread supplementation of  folic acid to our diet, [...]

Expert Panel in Ontario supports IVF funding

The Ontario government convened the Expert Panel on Infertility and Adoption to create funding guidelines for Ontarian seeking fertiilty treatments. We hope the recommendations will be implemented; the result would have implications for all Canadians

IVF: choosing the best embryo, and the best day for embryo transfer

The “perfect” embryo for transfer depends on the couple, their embryos, and the lab itself. This post describes embryo selection, grading, and the decisions that go into selecting embryos for transfer

Elective Single Embryo Transfer (eSET): is it right for you?

The fertility community would certainly like to see more singleton pregnancies…in contrast with the multiples that so often arise in our practices (or in the newspapers). The challenge is to balance this goal with our patients’ desires to maximize their chances for pregnancy