Most long-term health outcomes appear similar between children conceived through IVF and those conceived without fertility treatment. A few small differences have been reported, but some may be related to the parents’ underlying infertility rather than the fertility treatment itself.
Can you have sex before or after embryo transfer? This article reviews what fertility clinics recommend, summarizes the clinical studies, and explains whether sexual intercourse or seminal plasma may affect implantation and pregnancy rates after IVF.
Aneuploid embryo success rates after transfer are very low, with about 1–2% leading to a live birth, likely due to undetected mosaicism after PGT-A rather than true whole chromosome aneuploidy.
This post explains how embryos can split during IVF, especially at the blastocyst stage. It covers the timing of splitting, the different types of identical twins, the factors that make splitting more likely, and how IVF labs can reduce the risk of twins after single embryo transfer.
This post traces the evolution of PGT-A testing in IVF, from early FISH and microarray methods to modern NGS and emerging technologies like nanopore sequencing, highlighting how each advancement improved accuracy, speed, and embryo assessment.
Aneuploid embryos, with an abnormal number of chromosomes, are a major cause of miscarriages, often linked to maternal age and errors in meiosis. In this post, we’ll explore what chromosomes and aneuploidy are, how meiosis errors cause aneuploidy, and the factors contributing to these errors, including age, genetics and mitochondrial dysfunction.
This post explores how different popular diets can affect fertility and IVF outcomes, including the Mediterranean, DASH, vegetarian, keto and Western diet. Some diets can benefit metabolic health and fertility, particularly for PCOS patients, while others have a negative effect.
Successful embryo implantation and pregnancy depends on careful control of the immune system. In this post, we’ll explore the general workings of the immune system and its role in pregnancy, examining how dysregulation of immune cells like natural killer (NK) cells and macrophages can impact fertility. Additionally, we’ll look into autoimmunity and discuss how immunotherapies may be used to improve IVF outcomes.
The egg cell contains a high number of mitochondria, which are tiny cellular organs that produce energy that the egg needs to power fertilization and embryo development. Research has shown that these mitochondria can become dysfunctional with age, leading to reduced energy availability for the egg that could result in poor egg quality. Different treatments that target mitochondria, like antioxidant supplements or mitochondrial donation, may improve egg quality, although good quality research is lacking that shows these treatments are truly effective.
Stress may have an impact on IVF success, such as pregnancy rates. In this post we’ll look at what stress is, how it’s measured, and its impact on pregnancy outcomes after IVF, specifically stress measured before IVF starts, during the egg retrieval and during the embryo transfer. We’ll also look at how stress can be alleviated to potentially improve outcomes.
Laparoscopy is the gold standard for diagnosing endometriosis, but other non-surgical tests are showing potential. Here we’ll take a brief look at ReciptivaDx based on the BCL6 protein, the Endotest and DotEndo test based on a miRNA signature, the EMScore which is based on a gene expression signature, and imaging tests like ultrasound and MRI.
In this post, we’ll explore various endocrine disruptors present in the environment and consumer products, which can interfere with hormonal action and adversely affect reproductive health and fertility. We’ll focus on bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, dioxins, pesticides, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as well as parabens and phenols, and also discuss methods to minimize exposure to these chemicals.
This post reviews what research currently shows about the vaginal and endometrial microbiome and how it may relate to fertility and IVF outcomes. While Lactobacillus species are often considered beneficial and are commonly found in the reproductive tract, studies examining whether microbiome differences actually affect IVF success have produced mixed results.
Mosaic embryos are able to self-correct and result in a normal baby the majority of the time, without evidence of any chromosomal abnormalities, however there are seven cases (as of 2023, to my knowledge) of a mosaic embryo leading to a birth with the same affected chromosome.
Evidence up to 2022 shows that a single PGT-A biopsy is highly concordant (similar) with the rest of the embryo when the embryo is aneuploid or euploid, but not when it’s mosaic or segmental.
This is a guide that covers the process of shipping embryos/gametes from one clinic to another, including the use of dry shippers, the risks of transport, the process involved with the clinic and how you can prepare, three different shipping methods and approximate costs for the shipment.
The post discusses various frozen embryo transfer protocols, which includes a medicated FET, natural cycle FET (true natural/modified natural), and mild ovarian stimulated FET, along with their scheduling. In addition, it examines whether one FET protocol is superior to another, the relevance of the corpus luteum in medicated vs natural cycle FETs, and optimal progesterone levels.
This post covers the variety of reasons embryos can fail to implant or miscarry, including as a result of advanced maternal age, chromosomal translocations, lifestyle, endometritis, the microbiota, immunological issues, endometrial receptivity, the clinic, and more. Note that this is not a complete list, and will be updated periodically.
This post covers what occurs during normal fertilization and what it means to have an abnormally fertilized zygote (0PN, 1PN, 3PN, 4PN). Using PGT to test these embryos reveals that many have the correct number of chromosome sets and can lead to successful live births.
This post takes a closer look at what “poor-quality” embryos really mean in IVF. At the cleavage stage, they often have fewer cells or high fragmentation, while at the blastocyst stage, a grade C means the inner cell mass and trophectoderm contain fewer, loosely packed cells. These embryos tend to have lower success rates than good-quality ones, but studies show they can have similar perinatal outcomes.
Can you actually improve egg quality for IVF? It’s a question many patients ask, and while age is a major factor, it’s not the only one. This guide breaks down what egg quality really means, what affects it (including stimulation, lifestyle, and age), and what the latest research says about supplements and interventions.
This post goes over “embryo compaction,” or “embryo collapse,” which occurs naturally as a blastocyst develops and after thawing a blastocyst, and how this relates to success rates.
This post discusses the use of supplements to improve egg quality for IVF success, exploring the supporting evidence for a range of supplements like N-acetyl-cysteine, Melatonin, L-arginine, Myo-inositol, CoQ10, L-carnitine, DHEA, folic acid/folate, and vitamins E, C, D, and B.
This post covers mosaic embryos, including their definition, frequency after PGT-A, mosaic embryo levels (low level, high level), mosaic embryo types (whole chromosome, segmental), current guidelines for transfer, potential for self-correction, and success rates.
NK or natural killer cells play an important (and controversial) role in IVF. Most evidence suggests that there is no link to NK cell levels and pregnancy outcomes, and that immunotherapies that target NK cells in IVF show no benefit. Although there may be a certain group of patients that benefit. We’ll also discuss how uterine NK cells can support pregnancy, with information on their KIR receptors and HLA-C on the embryo, and how this can lead to embryo “rejection.” Finally, we’ll look at the overall problems with NK cell testing.
This post covers PGT-A, including how it works, how accurate it is, whether it can damage embryos, how to read PGT-A reports, success rates, mosaic embryos, and why even euploid embryos sometimes fail.
Embryo arrest is when an embryo stops developing, usually before reaching the blastocyst stage. This post explains possible causes, including embryonic genome activation, maternal effect genes, the subcortical maternal complex, aneuploidy, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, lab conditions, and sperm DNA fragmentation.
Not sure what your embryo grade means—or if it affects your chances of success? This guide walks you through everything from day 3 and day 5 grading systems to what each number and letter combo (like 3BB or 5AA) actually means. You’ll also find success rate research, embryo photos, and insights from a former embryologist to help make sense of your report.