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| Non-Standard IVF Techniques | In Vitro Maturation. It is a new technique, with the help of which it is possible to achieve the fertilization without taking any fertility medicines. During the In Vitro Maturation process the follicles are gathered several days before the ovulation, by this time about half of them have begun to mature already. About 15% of these maturing follicles are removed, and two or three of these removed follicles have the potential to develop into healthy embryos.
Blastocyst Transfer. This kind of procedure is considered to be very promising. If during In Vitro Maturation the embryos are implanted into the uterus being already two – three days old, while conducting the Blastocyst Transfer procedure, the blastocysts are implanted into the uterus during the fifth day of their development. This procedure is considered to be somewhat more complicated, than the previous one, however it needs fewer blastocysts to be implanted, which reduces the risk of getting pregnant with multiples. However, the risk of the identical twins delivering is higher, in comparison to other ART procedures. Interesting enough, but according to statistical data, there are more males arrive in the result of the Blastocyst transfer, rather than females. The very procedure is considered to be more successful in young women, rather than in older ones, and the pregnancy rates are somewhere around 35% with the first attempt, and it lowers significantly after the first try.
In Vitro Fertilization With Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). This kind of technique is considered to be a micromanipulation. During the ICSI procedure one single sperm is inserted into one egg with the help of an injection and microscopic instruments. As a rule couples, in which the male partner suffers from severe infertility or who did not manage to get pregnant while some other kind of ART was conducted. This procedure is highly effective, even if it is performed in some severe female fertility problems. About 75% of all IVF procedures are now ICSI. Moreover, successful pregnancy rate is equal to other kinds of ART.
The steps of the ICSI procedure are the following
1. A holding pipet (it is a little tube, made of glass) is used to stabilize the egg;
2. An injection pipet (this is also a tiny glass tube) is used to get inside the membrane of the egg and to insert a single sperm into the egg;
3. The egg is released into a drop of cultured medium;
4. In case if the fertilization occurs, the egg will develop for a couple of days under control; after that in case of successful development, it is either implanted into the woman’s uterus or frozen for the further application.
Who are the potential candidates for the ICSI procedure
Men who suffer from severe Oligoastherospermia (which is an extremely low sperm count or sperm motility);
Men who suffer from Obstructive Azoospermia (when there is no sperm in the seminal fluid because of either an obstruction or congenital absence of the tubes, which carry sperm from the testicles);
Men, who suffer from Retrograde Ejaculation (when the ejaculation occurs into the urinary bladder instead of into the top of the penis);
If the attempt of classical IVF procedure has failed.
The Risks of ICSI
In the result of the insertion of the needle, a few eggs (less than 5%) may possibly be damaged during the ISCI procedure performing;
The risk to deliver a baby with a chromosomal abnormality in the X or Y chromosome is about eight births per thousand (it is four times the average seen in case of a spontaneous conception). For now there is no answer on the question why there is this increased risk for babies, who are conceived through the ISCI procedure. However, it is simply necessary to realize that all the following problems can be associated with the abnormalities of sex chromosome: high risk of miscarriage; heart problems for affected newborn babies, which may require surgical intrusion; high risk of behavior or learning disabilities with affected children; high risk of infertility in young children during their adult years.
Ooplasmic Transfer. This procedure is only at the stage of the experiments so far. However, while performing the Ooplasmic Transfer procedure, the woman’s own egg is used, as well as the female donor’s egg and the sperm of either a woman’s husband or her male partner or the male donor’s sperm is also applied for the fertilization. The genetic material, taken from the donor female’s egg is combined with the own egg of a woman and with the sperm. This kind of a procedure has already been successful in a few cases, however, studies are extremely early and none long – term effects of the Ooplasmic Transfer are known so far.
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