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Fertility Options For Women Over 40
The prime reproductive years for women are between their early and mid-20s. Today, women nearing their late-20s who want a family but perhaps just not right now have several fertility preservation options available to them. Egg Freezing is growing in popularity among those women.
Those aged 39 to 44, however, did not have these fertility preservation options when they were younger. They may retain retain viable eggs that can result in a healthy baby. In some cases even for those into their late-40s, but their chances of getting pregnant are much lower. There are alternative third-party reproduction options like using donor eggs, donor sperm, and/or surrogates to carry the child. But as long as you are still fertile and having regular periods you may not need to look into those. So, what is the best fertility options for women over 40?
A Gentler IVF Treatment
A gentler IVF treatment is growing in popularity throughout clinics across the country. It is the trademarked Mini-IVF™ protocol developed at New Hope Fertility Center by Dr. Zhang. Zhang is a pioneer in the area of minimally invasive fertility care. Dr. Zhang has devoted its career to researching and perfecting Mini-IVF™ protocols.
Mini-IVF
Mini-IVF™ is particularly effective with women over 40. Especially when compared with conventional IVF. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have (in an immature form). As they go through life and these eggs mature (typically at the rate of one per menstrual cycle). Their ovarian reserve (that is, the number of eggs they have left to ovulate) becomes lower. As the ovarian reserve is depleted, the number of healthy viable eggs that can be retrieved in a single cycle of the fertility treatment also becomes lower.
In a conventional IVF cycle, large doses of hormones and medications are used to push women’s bodies to produce 10 or more viable eggs in each single cycle. This is done to increase their chances of pregnancy. In women with a lower ovarian reserve, this practice is taxing on the body. It is so far from what would naturally happen, many of these eggs tend to be of lower quality and will not lead to a healthy pregnancy.
Mini-IVF™, however, is gentler on the body as it uses less hormones and medications. Fewer eggs are retrieved in a single cycle, but the eggs are of higher quality. This means the body is not so overworked during the fertility treatment without affecting the changes of women to get pregnant. Ultra Mini-IVF™ and Natural IVF, two types of minimal invasive treatments that are particularly effective with women who have a lower ovarian reserve, are even less aggressive and taxing on the woman’s body as they use less-to-no medications and focus on simply optimizing what the body would naturally produce.
The Customized Approach For Dealing With Infertility
Far from being a one-size-fits-all fertility solution, minimal stimulation IVF is a customized approach for dealing with infertility. By using a person’s unique physiology to guide treatment, New Hope physicians carefully monitor patients and develop an individualized protocols that maximize the chances of a successful pregnancy.
Whether the end protocol is Mini-IVF™, Ultra Mini-IVF™, or Natural IVF, the aim is to nurture patients’ bodies so they can produce the highest quality eggs possible, rather than the most they can get. As Dr. Zhang explains, “the first thing that we do is talk to our patients to understand their unique needs. Then we create a customized fertility care plan. This system has allowed New Hope to have many successes, including breaking the age barrier for women, even those who previously had trouble conceiving.”
