The Mini IVF which is a low intensity IVF (LI – IVF) is when couples
are subjected to taking oral fertility medications with or without
minimal use of injectibles when going through InVitro Fertilization.
This process is the same in operation as the conventional ivf which
entails egg retrival, fertilization,embryo culture and transfer. This
process is one that can helps in reducing the risk of multiple birth.
The difference between this treatment and the conventional ivf is
that this procedure is offered at a lower cost compared to other
conventional ivf plus the amount of medication used to stimulate the
ovaries to produce egg. While the typical IVF aim to produce several
eggs for retrieval, the mini IVF uses only lower medications to produce
few eggs
However with the said low cost that this treatment brings, there are
doubts as to the effective of this treatment. A study by the New York
Study for Human Reproduction (CHR) cast aspersion on the efficacy of low
intensity IVF programs marketed under different names like Mini IVF.
According to the study, this low intensity IVF programs do not live up
to their claims compared to conventional IVF programs even when doses of
fertility medications are reduced in order to lower cost of treatment.
A research was also conducted by CHR to evaluate claims that the mini
IVF program is cheaper and more patient friendly compared to the
traditional IVF programs. The result was published online in the medical
journals Reproductive Biomedicine Online 1, the result states that
micro IVF produces fewer embryo and faces much lower pregnancy rate.
However when the overall cost to getting pregnant through mini IVF is
compared the economical aspect of the treatment becomes meaningless
because micro IVF patients needed more cycles before they can actually
get pregnant. This means that the lower treatment associated with
minimal stimulation IVF did not translate to lower cost to achieve a
successful conception.
According to CHR “LI-IVF appears to reduce pregnancy chances and
prolong time to conception without offering any appreciable compensatory
financial benefits,”
Also Norbert Gleicher, MD, the study’s lead author and medical director of CHR said,
“When patients started asking for LI-IVF at our center, we, like many
other IVF centers, decided to offer the procedure. In contrast to other
centers, we, however, explained to our patients that LI-IVF should
still be considered ‘experimental’ since no data existed, that compared
this method of IVF to standard IVF.”
Before the treatment is considered, CHR will require the patient to
sign the “experimental” informed consent and started the accumulation
outcome data. Dr. Gleicher also note “As the result of our study well
demonstrates, doing otherwise would have been rather unethical.”
“We must warn patients against using ‘mini IVF’ or ‘natural IVF’
without carefully studing the options,” warns David Barad, MD, another
author of the study and director of clinical ART at CHR. “Until more
data becomes available, physicians should offer LI-IVF only as an
experimental procedure.”
The bottom line to Mini IVF is that although it may save money [if
you are successful with the first cycle] and lower the risk of getting
pregnant with multiple embryo transfer, but its not for everyone and
success rates is yet to be ascertain.
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