Trying to become pregnant is inevitably a time of heightened hopes and fears. Hopes focus on images of a happy and contented pregnancy followed by a trouble-free birth and that magical moment when you hold your own baby in your arms. But fears are never far away either, and these can centre on general health and whether the time is right but above all on the prospect of infertility and whether infertility treatment will be necessary. Even those who already have a child could well be aware that secondary infertility is more common than primary infertility, their fears intensifying accordingly.
The term amniocentesis is derived the Latin amnion, the membrane that forms the protective sac around a growing embryo, and the Greek kentesis meaning to puncture or to prick. This accurately describes the amniocentesis definition of the insertion of a needle through the amnion in order to extract a small amount of amniotic fluid…. View Article
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