The desire to have a child is extremely personal. Dealing with infertility is as well. Established in 1987, the Center for Advanced Reproductive Care at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was Iowa's first In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) program. Recently, the center celebrated the 5,000th egg retrieval for infertility treatment. Amy Sparks, PhD, director of the in vitro fertilization and reproductive testing laboratories in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, talks about the infertility program at UI Hospitals and Clinics:
When should couples consider an in vitro procedure to have a baby?
In vitro fertilization is the final therapeutic option for infertility care so couples need to consider all other infertility treatment and therapy options. Only after those have failed, would they pursue in vitro fertilization.
Are there age or health prerequisites of either parent to participate in the program?
Yes. We typically serve women who are under the age of 43. Patients need to be in good health, and if there are indications that the woman is going to be a candidate for high risk obstetrical care, she needs to be cleared by her obstetrician before we proceed with treatment.
What is the likelihood of a woman who comes to the center at UI Hospitals and Clinics carrying multiples instead of one baby?
We're quite happy to report that fewer than 20 percent of our women who achieve a pregnancy following in vitro fertilization embryo transfer have a multi-fetal pregnancy after care at UI Hospitals and Clinics.
Is Iowa unusual in its effort to discourage multiple births by implanting one embryo at a time?
There are other programs in the U.S. promoting what we call Elective Single- Embryo Transfer, meaning they have more than one embryo available, but transferring only one. We believe we're the only program in the country that's established a policy of elective single-embryo transfer in our good prognosis patients.
Why is the practice of implanting multiple embryos no longer used at UI Hospitals and Clinics?
In 2000, we started to reduce the number of embryos transferred and with many patients receiving two embryos instead of three. While we were able to reduce our incidence of triplets, we still had a high frequency of twins.
In 2003, we looked at cycle characteristics for our twin pregnancies and our analysis led us to conclude that women under the age of 38, who were good prognosis patients, were better off transferring just one embryo, instead of two. In 2004, we implemented a policy that only one embryo would be transferred to the good-prognosis patients. Fortunately, we've reduced the risk of multi-fetal pregnancies and optimized patients' outcomes by helping them build their families one baby at a time.
What has the success rate been in achieving a pregnancy at UI Hospitals and Clinics in comparison to the rest of the country?
For all patients of all ages, our delivery rate per cycle is about 10 percent higher than the national average. For example, women under 35 nationally, 40 percent of them who start a cycle will have a delivery. At UI Hospitals and Clinics, 51 percent of the patients in 2007 under age 35 delivered after starting a cycle.
If a couple was interested in learning more about infertility treatments, how do they go about learning more about the Iowa program?
They may either call our clinic at 319-356-8483 or visit the Center for Advanced Reproductive Care site. |
