The decision to start a family is an exciting time, but for some couples, that excitement is overshadowed by disappointment when conceiving isn’t as easy as they thought. The truth is achieving or maintaining a pregnancy is a common problem in the United States. In fact, infertility affects 1 in 8 couples trying to get pregnant, regardless of gender, age, or background. Knowing when to seek help is based on how long you’ve been trying to conceive — or having unprotected intercourse — and the woman’s age. The good news is that early fertility testing and treatment offer the best chances of success.
Below, the experts of IVF FLORIDA go over four reasons you should seek fertility early.
Age
Age plays a critical role for both women and men. For couples, infertility is being unable to conceive after a year of trying – unless the woman is 35 or older. In that case, couples should seek treatment after six months of trying without success. When the woman is 40 or over, speaking with a specialist should happen as soon as you decide it is the right time to start a family. That is because of the quantity and quality of eggs women have, which decrease with age.
But age is not the only factor for women. Male fertility starts to decline around 40 years old when sperm quality decreases, which reduces the chance of pregnancy and increases the time to pregnancy, and resulting pregnancies are more likely to result in miscarriage.
Cost
For many women who wait longer to start families, invasive procedures, like IVF, may be tried earlier to increase the chances of conception.
Younger women are more likely to have a better reserve of quality eggs, meaning they are more likely to be successful with less invasive methods like fertility medications or intrauterine insemination (IUI). Not only are these treatments less invasive–they are less expensive than more involved procedures.
If you have questions about the financial options available to you through IVF FLORIDA, contact our finance team today.
Health Awareness
The fertility workup patients receive when they start treatment can provide a wealth of general health information. For many men and women, infertility can be due to an underlying health issue they weren’t aware they had. These issues (such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or thyroid diseases) can cause several health problems, ranging from hypertension to depression. Learning that you have an underlying problem is the first step to taking charge of your fertility health.
Fertility Preservation
For women looking to delay parenthood, time is still of the essence! Women can now preserve their future fertility through egg freezing, enabling them to build a family when the time is right. However, women considering this option should move forward as soon as possible to increase their chances of success. As egg quality and quantity decline as women age, women who choose to freeze their eggs earlier have a higher likelihood of freezing enough high-quality eggs to give them the best chance of conceiving later in life.
Considering freezing your eggs? Contact our team to learn more.
If you and your partner would like to learn more about your treatment options, contact the fertility specialists at IVF FLORIDA at 954-247-6200 or request an appointment today.
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IVF FLORIDA at 25 Aug 2022
IVF FLORIDA is proud to announce a new partnership with Embryo Options. Through this partnership, IVF FLORIDA patients can access a secure online payment system for storage of embryos, eggs, or sperm, a comprehensive educational website, and disposition forms when storage is no longer needed.
About Embryo Options:
Embryo Options, a company that services fertility centers throughout the US, offers a HIPAA-compliant, secure online website for cryopreserved embryos, eggs, and sperm. IVF FLORIDA’s partnership with Embryo Options enables patients cryopreserving biological specimens to conveniently pay storage fees online and gain access to a comprehensive educational website to explore various disposition options for their embryos, eggs, or sperm.
Next Steps?
The physical storage of all embryos, eggs, and sperm remains within the highly-controlled laboratory environment at IVF FLORIDA Reproductive Associates.
Storage of embryos, eggs, or sperm will continue until patients decide to use their specimens in an assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment cycle, transfer them to a long-term storage facility, or submit signed copies of the IVF Florida disposition forms. The disposition forms will allow patients to authorize the lab to discard the specimens or donate them for research or reproductive use.
All patients with cryopreserved embryos, eggs, or sperm at IVF FLORIDA will receive a mailed letter with information about billing and the next steps.
In the meantime, if you have questions about your specimens, please email ivflabcryobilling@ivfflorida.com.
To transfer your specimens to offsite storage, contact ReproTech at 954-570-7687 or visit www.reprotech.com/ivfflorida.
To learn about Embryo Options or schedule a new patient appointment at IVF FLORIDA, please call our New Patient Center at 954-247-6200.
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IVF FLORIDA at 19 Aug 2022
Is male factor infertility more common than female infertility?
In about one-third of cases, male factor infertility is the sole source of reproductive problems. In roughly another third, the problem is a result of female infertility. The rest of the time, both males and females contribute to infertility. So, male and female factors are more or less equal in their frequency.
Male factor infertility, however, is easier to identify and treat, in most cases. For this reason, semen analysis is often the first testing procedure to be performed when a couple begins a fertility assessment.
How does age affect fertility?
A woman's fertility peaks in her early twenties, declining gradually by about 30, and steeply after 35. Contemporary women are often surprised and frustrated to learn this, as 35-year-old women are still quite young, by most standards. Women who are in their mid to late thirties and want to have children are likely to have more trouble than women who are having children during their mid to late twenties. The need for fertility assistance is even more common among women who have reached their forties.
Because men continue to produce sperm throughout their reproductive lives, while women are born with all of the eggs they will ever have, age is not as significant a factor in male fertility problems, although it may still play a role.
Will I need a high-risk OB-GYN after conceiving with IVF?
Just because a woman has trouble getting pregnant does not necessarily mean she will have trouble being pregnant. Most women who conceive through in vitro fertilization have very normal, routine, healthy pregnancies. As long as no additional factors require the attention of a high-risk obstetrician, most IVF patients can continue seeing a regular OB-GYN.
Complications that indicate the need for a high-risk OB-GYN include multiple pregnancies (especially with three or more fetuses), certain pre-existing medical conditions, and a personal history of miscarriage or complicated pregnancy.
While many questions are specific to a patient's condition and must be answered on an individual basis, you can read some of the frequently asked questions about general fertility information here.
To learn more or to schedule a consultation with an IVF FLORIDA physician, request an appointment.
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IVF FLORIDA at 29 Jul 2022
A new concierge program provides egg-freezing patients with a customized approach to fertility preservation.
IVF FLORIDA is pleased to offer a new concierge program for patients looking to freeze their eggs—providing a simple, modern, and customized approach tailored to each individual's goals.
"At IVF FLORIDA, we understand that patients can use more support in a process that can feel intimidating," said Marc Gualtieri, M.D. "While we have always provided a high standard of service to our patients, this new program offers several advantages to a woman looking to freeze her eggs.”
Designed to minimize the time commitment and maximize potential, IVF FLORIDA’s new Egg Freezing Concierge program provides patients with a dedicated care team, including an IVF FLORIDA physician and a board-certified nurse practitioner, who will guide patients through every step of the egg freezing process. The care team will work with each patient's schedule to determine start dates while keeping monitoring appointments to approximately four visits. Patients can work, as usual, taking time off only for egg retrieval day when they receive light sedation for the egg extraction.
With more women postponing parenthood, egg freezing can be a valuable opportunity to keep reproductive options open and preserve future fertility. To learn more about our Egg Freezing Concierge Program, call 954-247-6200 or schedule a consultation today.
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IVF FLORIDA at 27 Jul 2022
FAQs: Roe v. Wade’s overturn and the possible impact on fertility treatments
US Fertility and its partner practices — IVF Florida, Fertility Centers of Illinois, Reproductive Science Center of the San Francisco Bay Area, and Shady Grove Fertility — understand that many of our patients have concerns about how their fertility care may be impacted by the recent Supreme Court decision. At present, the ruling does not limit US Fertility or any of its partnership practice’s ability to provide IVF, fertility care, or fertility preservation. All US Fertility partnership practices are maintaining current patient treatment plans. US Fertility will continue to monitor all enacted and pending legislation and will be as transparent as possible in communicating how this may affect our patients’ care.
Please click here to read the Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
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IVF FLORIDA at 8 Jul 2022