OUR IVF TREATMENTS
New Hope Fertility Center provides the full range of fertility treatments to help you bring a child into this world. They include various IVF protocol choices, In Vitro Oocyte (egg) Maturation (IVM), Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), Laser-Assisted Hatching, Blastocyst Cultures, Fresh & Frozen Embryo & Ovarian Tissue Transfers, and Cryopreservation (embryo & egg freezing) using Vitrification.
In some IVF treatments, we also use ovulation induction, which is an umbrella term referring to any course of oral or injectable fertility drugs used to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs, in the hope of increasing your chance for pregnancy. Our approach to ovulation induction, however, has a low impact on the woman's body. We specialize in Natural Cycle IVF which uses no ovulation induction, and embraces the one quality egg your body naturally produces each month, and the Mini-IVFTM treatment which uses a minimal amount of oral fertility drugs to stimulate your ovaries to produce the 3-5 quality eggs that have the greatest chance of pregnancy. Our ovulation induction protocols for each IVF treatment are provided below.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) - IVF Treatments
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is any assisted reproduction technique in which fertilization of the egg by the sperm is accomplished outside the body & the resulting embryo is inserted back into a woman's uterus. New Hope Fertility Center specializes in Natural Cycle IVF and Mini-IVF treatments, but, at a patient's request, we will use conventional IVF. For some patients, pregnancy may first be attempted using Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), where assisted fertilization is occurs inside, rather than outside the body, before beginning the more intensive IVF procedure.
Natural Cycle IVF Treatment
Natural Cycle IVF's unique characteristic is that it is the most holistic, natural IVF possible. It avoids fertility hormone drugs that would otherwise stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs. And, it is intended to only capture the one egg your body naturally develops each month during your menstrual cycle. This egg is generally the best quality egg a woman's body will produce (even when IVF drugs are used), with the greatest chance for pregnancy.
Women who choose Natural Cycle IVF generally favor its holistic approach, which is closer to the way nature intended women to conceive and create life. It is ideal for women who choose to live a drug- and chemical-free lifestyle, and for women who, because of age or poor fertility health, are less likely to produce multiple eggs even should heavy IVF drugs be administered. For women who cannot produce multiple eggs even with drug therapy, Natural IVF allows them to avoid the health risks and high expense of IVF drugs as well as the discomfort of daily injections. When they do undergo IVF drug therapy these women are typically offered only limited IVF access, and are either refused care or made to suffer cancelled cycles because they cannot produce more than 3-5 eggs. At New Hope Fertility Center we provide women with a wide range of options to suit them, including Natural Cycle IVF and the promise of our One Good Egg Policy, which ensures you will not be turned away for producing too few eggs.
The downside of Natural Cycle IVF is that it is unsuited to the freezing of surplus embryos each cycle, since generally only one embryo is developed. Many women, however, want to a supply of frozen embryos for future use when they are ready to add additional children to their family. This apparent limitation of the Natural Cycle procedure can be overcome by freezing embryos for your Embryo Bank in the first few cycles, and then transferring a fresh embryo for the initial pregnancy attempt. Click here to read more about the natural cycle IVF treatment or here to see an IVF treatment comparison chart.
Mini-IVFTM, Minimal Stimulation IVF Treatment
The Mini-IVFTM treatment is another holistic in vitro fertilization treatment, but it differs from Natural Cycle IVF in its use of minimal IVF hormone (oral) medication to stimulate your ovaries to produce the maximum amount of "quality" eggs your body can produce in one cycle. Fertility scientists know these quality eggs (usually 3-5) are the only eggs that are capable of delivering a healthy baby. When more aggressive IVF drug treatments are used (delivered in daily injections), most of the excess eggs produced by this method, beyond the 3-5 "quality" eggs, are typically genetically invalid and consequently discarded prior to implantation or later through a natural miscarriage.
Medication for the Mini-IVFTM treatment includes one Clomid pill consumed once daily, no more than 1-3 injections of Menopure, and a simple nasal spray of Synarel or an equivalent medicine administered 36 hours prior to egg retrieval. Synarel avoids the need for repeated progesterone injections, which are typically used in conventional IVF after the transfer.
Like those who choose Natural Cycle IVF, women who choose the Mini-IVFTM treatment also prefer a more holistic, natural approach, closer to nature's way. They often minimize chemicals and drugs in their lifestyle, but prefer Mini-IVFTM treatment to Natural Cycle IVF because they seek more quality eggs each cycle to increase their chance of pregnancy, and to provide them with surplus embryos to freeze for their Embryo Banks. Their Embryo Bank holds their reserve embryos until such time that they are ready to add to their family. Women who favor Mini-IVFTM choose this treatment over conventional IVF to reduce health risks and discomfort from bloating caused by ovarian hyper-stimulation (OHSS), to eliminate the pain of daily drug injections (20-60 per cycle), reduce the high cost of drugs ($2,500-$5,000), avoid the wait time of 2-3 months between cycles, and minimize the potential risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer from prolonged use of high-dose IVF drugs. (Further studies are needed to confirm the link between hormone treatments and the various cancers).
The pregnancy success rate for the Mini-IVFTM treatment (averaging 1.4 embryos transferred in each IVF cycle) is competitive with the success rate produced by conventional IVF. (where usually 2-3 embryos are transferred in each IVF cycle). But these sets of rates are not fully suitable for comparison. Due to the health risks posed by twins or multiple births, New Hope Fertility Center promotes a single-embryo strategy (unless otherwise requested by the patient). Consequently, our Mini-IVFTM treatment pregnancy rates would virtually double, matching, and in some cases exceeding conventional IVF, if we transferred the same number of embryos (2-3+ each cycle) as is standard in conventional IVF.
New Hope Fertility Fees for the Mini-IVFTM treatment are $4,800 per cycle plus $100-$400 for IVF drugs. We specialize in the Mini-IVFTM treatment, are the largest fertility center in the US offering it (95% of our cycles use the Mini-IVFTM treatment), and are recognized globally as leading experts in this treatment. Click here to read more about the Mini-IVFTM treatment or here to see an IVF treatment comparison chart.
Hyper-Stimulation (Conventional) IVF Treatment
The conventional hyper-stimulation IVF treatment relies on daily injections of IVF hormone drugs to stimulate the ovaries to produce the maximum number of eggs possible in each cycle. All eggs are targeted regardless of quality, so this method produces a surfeit of eggs, many of which are not viable. Like the Mini-IVFTM treatment, hyper-stimulation generally produces only 3-5 "quality" eggs viable for a sustainable pregnancy.
A woman must administer, on her own, daily shots (usually 1-2 daily for 3-5 weeks, or 20-60 per cycle) of Gonadotropins (Pergonal, Repronex, Menogon, Fertinex, Follistim, Gonal F, Puregon, Pregnyl, Novarel, Profasi, or Ovidrel) prior to egg retrieval. After embryo transfer, she must self-inject daily shots of Progesterone supplemented with estrogen for 2 weeks until her first pregnancy blood test. These shots are very painful because they must be injected directly into muscle tissue. They are needed to thicken the uterine lining so it is more receptive and better able to support embryo implantation.
Women who elect conventional IVF over more gentle methods have been told more eggs collected each cycle will increase their chance of pregnancy. Our success rates with Mini-IVFTM show these claims to be untrue and as minimal stimulation IVF becomes a more widely available option, we believe many more women will reject this equation of quantity of eggs with chances of pregnancy. Nevertheless, conventional IVF has an important role to play, particularly for women who are concerned primarily that numerous eggs are retrieved, and in some cases for women under 35 who may produce more than 3-5 "quality eggs" with conventional IVF. In these cases conventional IVF may be the best method?but the patient will have to go through one or two cycles to find out. Conventional IVF is also ideal for cancer patients who have little time before radiation and chemotherapy treatments must start.
Conventional IVF is the most costly of IVF treatment, the procedure ranging between $7,500-$12,000 plus $2,500-$5,000 for IVF drugs. Click here to read more about our fees or here to see an IVF comparison chart.
Donor Egg IVF & Donor Sperm IVF Treatments
For men or women whose egg or sperm is not viable for pregnancy, using donor eggs or sperm is an alternative. Donor egg IVF cycles generally use the conventional IVF treatment to maximize the number of eggs the donor can provide each cycle. Most donor sperm is purchased from frozen sperm banks, thawed at New Hope Fertility Center, and then utilized during the IVF cycle as normal.
Donor egg cycles can be fresh or frozen donor cycles. In a fresh donor cycle, your donor's menstrual cycle is timed with yours and she undergoes hyper-stimulation to produce multiple eggs that will be retrieved and then fertilized with your male partner's sperm (or donor sperm); the resulting embryos are transferred into your uterus for hopeful pregnancy. Frozen donor egg cycles are easier since they do not require menstrual cycles to be timed; we simply fertilize the donor eggs with your male partner's sperm (or donor sperm) and implant the resulting embryos into your uterus for hopeful pregnancy.
You may obtain frozen donor sperm or eggs or fresh donors from a donor agency or from New Hope Fertility Center. New Hope Fertility Center fees are $24,500 per cycle; this fee includes donor compensation and all IVF cycle costs for both you and the donor.
New Hope Fertility Center also offers shared donor cycles. These are cycles where you share a donor with another woman also trying to have a baby using a donor. This is a less expensive donor option and our fees are $14,500 per cycle; this fee includes donor compensation and all IVF cycle costs for both you and the donor.
Surrogate IVF Treatments
When you have difficulty sustaining a pregnancy through term, you may opt to use a surrogate to carry your own genetically matched child. This is called gestational surrogacy. You may also use a traditional surrogate who will provide her own eggs during the cycle.
When using a gestational surrogate, New Hope Fertility Center will use your IVF treatment of choice to retrieve your eggs, fertilize them with sperm, and then implant the embryos into the surrogate's uterus. When using a traditional surrogate, conventional IVF is recommended to maximize the number of possible eggs that will be fertilized with your male partner's sperm. Then the embryos will be implanted into the surrogate's uterus. We do not recruit surrogates, but will work with surrogates provided by an agency. Our standard IVF fees apply.
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