Do you know what happens when you have a hysterosalpingogram or about the significance of your AMH levels? More importantly, how much do you know about the ever-increasing options for fertility treatments now available? The majority of men and women who decide to start a family never have to think about these issues. But the… View Article
The difference between primary and secondary infertility is that in the case of secondary infertility, the sufferer has already had a child or even children. Primary infertility is the inability to conceive or to carry a pregnancy to term in the first place. Quite often, the causes are similar. Whatever the cause, experiencing primary or secondary infertility can be surprising, bewildering and a cause for very real distress and grief.
Periods can often feel like an annoying fact of life that we could well do without, but in fact the existence of regular periods is an indication that the body is generally in good working order. Conversely, the absence of periods, amenorrhea, can be a signal that something is amiss. It is defined as either primary, when a girl does not start menstruating by the age of 15 or 16, or secondary, when a woman who has passed through puberty and had regular menstruation, misses three or more periods in a row.
We start a new year full of challenges and dreams, but first we would like to stop for a moment and think about everything we have experienced over the last 12 months to face the new year with the aim of continuing to grow, of bettering ourselves, of continuing to evolve, of continuing to be… View Article
Today, many of you (if not the vast majority) will be familiar with the term “vitrification,” or second women’s revolution, as this important scientific breakthrough is called by some. And indeed, after the contraceptive pill, vitrification of oocytes has allowed women to gain a necessary and historically claimed right: the freedom to decide. When and… View Article
If you are one of the increasing number of women considering egg freezing, whether for medical or social reasons, this IVI blog article is here to help you make an informed choice. It takes a look at questions surrounding potential side effects and any risks from egg freezing.
In the developed world, we constantly hear about an obesity ‘epidemic’, often linked to an abundance of fast and processed foods and unhealthily sedentary lifestyles. At the same time, there are loud alarm bells ringing about a general decline in fertility, often thought about in terms of declining sperm quality in men, but in fact applying equally to men and women. Could these two contemporary trends be linked?
Last year, in all of our clinics we launched a free campaign for women aged 25 to 38 so that those who wanted to could find out their ovarian reserve (in other words, the total number of ova found in the ovaries). The fact is, this is one of the indicators that enables us to… View Article
A simple definition of intrauterine insemination is the introduction of semen into a woman’s uterus via the vagina or cervix by any means other than sexual intercourse. The best-known assisted production technique, in vitro fertilisation (IVF), was invented a mere 40 years ago – and people were using IUI long before that. Intrauterine insemination, also known as artificial insemination, was used in humans as long ago as the 18th century, but techniques and refinements to make it more successful have steadily developed since those early days.
Being able to control our fertility is a hugely positive advance. It gives us freedom of choice in career, social and relationship issues that previous generations of women could only have dreamt of. But what if the freedom to access contraception turned out to be a double-edged sword? Suppose it actually damaged our freedom to… View Article