Infertility can be a devastating condition for couples who want to start a family.

It affects millions of people worldwide and can be caused by a variety of factors, such as hormonal imbalance, blocked fallopian tubes, ovulation disorders, and low sperm count, among others.

Traditionally, infertility treatment involved artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization (IVF). However, these methods can be invasive and expensive, and they may not work for every couple.

Fortunately, there’s a new, revolutionary infertility treatment that can help the majority of couples struggling with infertility.

What is the new infertility treatment?

The new treatment is called in vitro maturation (IVM), and it involves collecting immature eggs from a woman’s ovaries, maturing them in a laboratory, and then fertilizing them with sperm to create embryos.

Unlike traditional IVF, IVM doesn’t require a woman to go through a hormone-stimulating regimen, which can be challenging and even dangerous for some women. Instead, IVM relies on natural hormones produced by the woman’s body to stimulate egg maturation.

IVM was first used successfully in animals in the early 1990s, and since then, it has been developed and refined for use in humans.

Today, IVM is widely available in fertility clinics throughout the world, and it has a success rate comparable to that of traditional IVF.

Who can benefit from IVM?

IVM is especially suitable for women who have a high risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) or who can’t tolerate the hormone-stimulating drugs used in traditional IVF.

OHSS is a potentially life-threatening complication that can occur when a woman’s ovaries are stimulated to produce too many eggs. Symptoms of OHSS include bloating, abdominal pain, and difficulty breathing.

In addition, IVM may be an excellent option for women who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition characterized by an excess of male hormones and cysts on the ovaries. PCOS can cause irregular periods and infertility.

IVM is also a less invasive and more affordable option for couples who don’t need the full range of services provided by traditional IVF.

How is IVM done?

IVM involves several steps:.

Ultrasound monitoring: The woman’s ovaries are monitored using ultrasound to check for follicles that contain immature eggs.
Egg retrieval: The immature eggs are collected from the follicles under local anesthesia. This procedure is performed with a needle inserted through the vaginal wall and into the ovary.
Maturation in the laboratory: The immature eggs are then matured in a laboratory for one to two days, using a special culture medium that mimics the conditions in a woman’s body that promote egg maturation.
Egg fertilization: Once the eggs have matured, they are fertilized with sperm in a laboratory dish. The resulting embryos are allowed to develop for several days, until they reach the blastocyst stage.
Embryo transfer: The embryos are then transferred to the woman’s uterus using a catheter.

The entire process takes about three weeks, compared to six to eight weeks for traditional IVF.

What are the advantages of IVM?

IVM offers several advantages over traditional IVF:.

No hormone-stimulating drugs: IVM doesn’t require a woman to take hormones to stimulate egg production, which can be challenging and even dangerous for some women.
Lower risk of OHSS: Since IVM doesn’t stimulate the ovaries as much as traditional IVF, there’s a lower risk of OHSS.
Less invasive: The egg retrieval procedure in IVM is less invasive than in traditional IVF.
More affordable: IVM is generally less expensive than traditional IVF, since it doesn’t involve as many procedures and drugs.

What are the success rates of IVM?

The success rates of IVM are comparable to those of traditional IVF, especially for younger women who have a good chance of getting pregnant.

However, the success rates of IVM may be lower for women who have certain fertility issues, such as tubal factor infertility or male factor infertility.

Overall, the success rates of IVM are around 35% to 40% per cycle, which is slightly lower than the success rates of traditional IVF (which are around 40% to 45% per cycle).

Conclusion

IVM is a revolutionary infertility treatment that offers a less invasive, more affordable, and safer alternative to traditional IVF.

It’s especially suitable for women who have a high risk of developing OHSS or who can’t tolerate the hormone-stimulating drugs used in traditional IVF. With its comparable success rates, IVM is likely to become a popular choice for the majority of couples struggling with infertility.