Credit: zetson via Flickr Creative Commons.

What is ZIFT?

ZIFT stands for zygote intra-fallopian transfer. Like with IVF — invitro fertilization — egg and sperm come together in a lab setting, after which the resulting zygote is placed inside the body of the woman who is intending to carry the pregnancy. With IVF, that zygote (fertilized egg) is placed in the woman’s uterus. ZIFT fertility treatment places the zygote in one of the woman’s fallopian tubes, leaving it to make its own way to the uterus.

How is ZIFT performed?

The initial steps of the ZIFT process are identical to IVF; induction of hyperovulation and collection of eggs, collection of sperm, and placing the two together in a petri dish. Following those steps, the resulting zygote is placed inside the woman’s selection fallopian tube through laparoscopy. One ZIFT cycle takes around five weeks from start to finish.

Why haven’t I heard of ZIFT?

Lots of women need IVF because their fallopian tubes were blocked, scarred, or damaged for a variety of medical reasons. ZIFT is not suitable for women with such conditions. And, ZIFT doesn’t just require the zygote to travel further, from the fallopian tubes to the uterus, than with IVF… it also means an extra hurdle to actually get the fertilized egg to the tube, namely the laparoscopic procedure. Studies have shown that IVF has the same chances for success as ZIFT or, as of 2004, better success rates. This leaves few couples who would choose to undergo zygote intra-fallopian transfer. ZIFT may still be a good option for couples who have experienced failure of other assisted reproduction techniques.

Thousands of couples undergo fertility treatment every year in the United Kingdom, and although their opinions and experiences are of paramount importance, this will be the first time a similar survey has been carried out. Titled “Fertility – have your say,” the survey is ground-breaking in many ways and will hopefully improve the patient experience of those having IVF, IUI, or any other fertility treatment.

The HFEA aims to provide a representative sample of the UK population, and is going to group the survey respondents according to age, gender, geographical location, and ethnicity. Every participant will be able to give their views, and describe how they experienced the care they received to date, and what their expectations are.

The outcome of the survey is expected to impact the way fertility treatments are handled in the United Kingdom, and will hopefully create a more patient-friendly experience. When it comes to fertility treatments, the patient is certainly at the heart of it all. Fertility treatments are stressful enough, and healthcare providers dedicated to making the experience as easy on the patient as humanly possible will definitely make a big difference.

As infertility becomes a growing problem in the United Kingdom as well as the rest of the world, fertility treatments will become more common. I think a government-organized survey such as this one will mean a lot to people thinking about fertility treatment, and those already in the process.

What do you think about this new survey? Do you think that it will make a big difference for patients? What do you think about organizing a similar survey in the United States? We’d love to hear your opinions on the subject, and we also welcome comments about the way you experienced your fertility treatment!

One Britsh study conducted in Belfast showed that women were much more likely than the general population to be depressed after unsuccessful infertility treatment. That is hardly surprising, but what does that mean for a marriage? Funnily enough, another British source states that the divorce rate is much lower among couples who suffer from infertility than for the population at large – 10 percent vs 50 percent!

We at Trying To Conceive are not psychologists, but we know from experience that the key to keeping your marriage as healthy as possible is to share your grief, and talk about your feelings. If you have a husband who has a different grieving style to yours, that can be a bit of a challenge. Some men love to pretend everything smells like soap and roses, while breaking on the inside. There are even women who have the same tendency.

If you suspect that the way you deal with your feelings around infertility is different to your husband’s coping mechanism, couples’ counseling is definitely a good idea. Your counselor can point out what you both need from each other, and help you find ways to achieve it.

Making time for each other and doing things that are totally unrelated to any baby-making ventures you might have on the go is also very important. Remember that you are two people who love each other for what you really are, and that your marriage is about that much more than having a baby.

Perhaps doing fun things is even more important than talking about your feelings and infertility. What did you do when you first started going out together? Do you remember nights out, walks through the neigborhood, having cheap meals at your local fast food joint? Do you remember how you felt when you first fell in love? Try to revisit those times, be creative, and enjoy yourselves!

Now, the Financial Times reports, India is thinking about regulating fertility treatments and is working on drafting a law. The new law is not targeting the domestic IVF business, but is hoping to put an end to unethical commercial surrogacy practices.

If the proposed law passes, a national database of surrogate mothers will be set up, and fertility clinics dealing with surrogacy and surrogate mothers will be monitored. If this law does end up coming into force – something that the Indian parliament will ultimately decide – experts estimate that it is mainly international commercial surrogacy that will be affected.

One aspect of the new law that I would welcome is that fertility clinics would be limited in what they are and are not allowed to do. Instead of arranging the entire surrogacy arrangements, as many clinics do now, they would be limited to facilitating the IVF procedure to implant embryos into the surrogates’ uteri.

International couples hoping to become parents with the help of Indian surrogate mothers would have to provide evidence that the future children would receive their citizenship without problems. This is something that has caused many complications in the past, and the new law would ensure the baby’s status is secure, something that I think is beneficial to everyone involved in a surrogacy journey.

Furthermore, if the proposals are accepted, surrogate mothers would not be able to carry more than five pregnancies to term, and the number of embryos that could be implanted through IVF would be restricted.

After becoming aware of all the ethical questions linked to Indian surrogacy, I very much hope the Indian parliament will vote in favor of this law, and that it will be enforced, which is admittedly a lot to hope for considering India’s track record.
What are your opinions? Do you think the law will pass? Do you think it would be a positive change or not?

This question was raised after the study from Harvard school was published. Researchers found a link between mothers who were treated with Clomid and other ovulation inducing drugs and autistic children. Harvard School of Public Health found that the chance that mother who was treated with ovulation-induced drugs is going to give birth to autistic child is greater for almost 50%.

And the researchers also claim that the longer woman was treated for infertility the more likely she is going to give birth to autistic child.

However, the data isn’t based on clinical records but on the responses from women which is the main reason it is not possible to confirm the timing of infertility treatment with the diagnosis for autism.

The theory behind says that there is a link between male hormones in the womb with emotional skills in childhood. For example, researchers from Cambridge university have suggested that both female and male embryos that were exposed to abnormal levels of testosterone (male hormone) before they were born, are more likely to develop traits typical of autism. These traits include solitary activities and strong numerical and pattern-recognition skills.  However, this study included only non-autistic children the study does provide some of the firmest biological evidence that the social impairments that are typical of autism may be affected by prenatal exposure to male hormone.

The idea behind this theory says that human brains work in a manner to empathize with others or to understand how system works. For example, women are more likely to fall into the first group – a group that empathize with others, while men would fall into the second group – into group that tries to understand how things work. Autistic people on the other hand are extreme systemizers, meaning that their social problems occur from fundamental difficulty with empathy.

Demographic research reports that 10% of new moms are teenagers and 14% of them are 35 years old or older. Comparing the data to a research that was conducted 10 years ago teenage mothers accounted for more births than women who were at least 35 years old.

Now days almost 55% of new moms has some college education, while 20 years ago only 40% of new moms had some college education, and the data also reports that more than 70% of new moms that are older than 35 had  logged at least some time in college.

Additionally, 10 years ago less than 28% new mothers were unmarried, but 2 years ago the situation was different. More than 40% of new mothers haven’t put a ring on yet. I really wonder what the situation is today…

There are several reasons why women decide to have children later in life, and one of the reasons could definitely be carrier and managing financial situation. Additionally, there is a rising number of mothers above 35 because there are fertility treatments that enable relatively safe conception of a baby. Moreover, a stigma that was linked to older mothers is no longer as strong as it used to be. According to the report, US residents have become much more tolerating of the rising number of mothers who give birth at the age of 35 and even later in 40ties. Americans are also far more accepting of the growing number of women who undergo fertility treatment in order to have a baby.

This study suggests another link between woman’s age and her education which actually seems quite logical and intuitive: the more education woman has, the more she is likely to postpone motherhood and the more likely is she is going to marry later in life.

Experts identified 3 trends that will transform fertility success rates and will positively impact the future of fertility:

Trend number 1:

Metabolomics will increase pregnancy rates by decreasing multiples rates. Metabolomics enables to non-invasively evaluate embryo quality. This means that only the most viable embryo needs to be transplanted instead multiple embryos. Consequently, this improves pregnancy rates and reduces the instances of multiples through IVF.

Trend number 2:

Vitrification is the technology of successfully freeze eggs. Vitrification is also one of the newest and long-awaited advances in fertility preservation. With vitrification process eggs are plunged in liquid nitrogen and this way instantly frozen. This ensures that this largely water-based cell does not form crystals that would expand and disrupt the egg’s membrane. Human oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing) is a novel technology in which a woman’s eggs aka oocytes are extracted, frozen and stored. Later, when she is ready to become pregnant, the eggs can be thawed, fertilized, and transferred to the uterus as embryos.

Experts predict that in the next decade more than one fourth of all fertility preservation will utilize vitrification.

Trend number 3:

Experts predict that the trend will be improving the rates in evaluating and treating severe male-factor infertility that contributes to more than 40% of infertility problems. It is misleading to think that women are responsible for infertility – the male infertility contributes to as much as 40% (of not more) cases. The biggest problem is in evaluating male infertility and the wxperts predict that the procedures that can evaluate male infertility and mostly treatments of severe male-factor infertility will improve.

I truly hope all their fertility predictions (and hopes) will come true and most of all that these trends that are yet to happen will increase fertility rates thus making many couples worldwide a bigger and happier family.

Some people spend thousands of pounds on rounds of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and the result might be risky. Couples consider themselves lucky because for some all the expenses and unpleasant rounds of treatments come to nothing.
The demand for fertility treatments is rising because more and more couples experience problems conceiving.

National Health Service’s waiting list for those who meet certain criteria (age etc.) is long and many couples are pushed into the expensive private sector if they want to fulfill their dreams of having a biological child.

According to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), UK’s independent regulator overseeing the use of gametes and embryos in fertility treatment and research, there were 32,626 patients who had IVF in 2005. By 2007, this number had gone up to 36,861.

Fertility specialists claim the fertility is on the rise and the main reason is female age. Most women are leaving it later, and are putting careers, travelling and many other things as a priority. Additionally, an average age women get married has also increased.

Therefore couples are forced to deal with fertility treatments such as IVF. Only one IVF cycle costs approximately £5,000 in the UK private sector, being the main reason couples seek help abroad, or are even forced to wait for long waits for NHS treatment ranging from 6 months to three years. Many UK fertility experts believe NHS should be doing more to help infertile couples because long waiting lines reduce the chances of successfully fulfilling their dream.  For example, when women reaches the age of 37, every six months she has an absolute chance of successful outcome declining by about 2 %.

NHS is strongly criticized by fertility experts for making patients wait so long for help, claiming their way of ‘doing things’ is the opposite of infertility treatment.

Dutch scientist observed more than 160 couples that were undergoing fertility treatment, and they found that women whose nutrition was close to Mediterranean type of diet were as much as 40% more likely to become pregnant.

However, study does not prove that the diet itself boosts the success of fertility treatment. Since the study was “observational”, and the researchers asked couples about their usual diets, and then followed the groups’ outcomes after fertility treatment, studies like this cannot prove cause-and-effect, and there are no direct proves Mediterranean diet boosts fertility.

But the doctors do agree that couples that are undergoing fertility treatment should eat balanced diet that include vegetables, vegetable oil, beans and fish.

Key components of the Mediterranean diet include eating plenty amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables. Including healthy vegetable oils, like olive or canola oil into diet. Fish is an important ingredient of Mediterranean diet: fish or shellfish is at least twice a week on a menu, while red meat is not so often. Whole grains and small portions of nuts are also one of the essentials. I must not forget red wine, but in limited amounts and perhaps if you are trying to conceive it would be better not to drink it at all. Mediterranean diet is also known for using herbs such as coriander, oregano, basilica and less salt.

There are several reasons why the fertility rate was on the side of Mediterranean diet:

Mediterranean diet is good because of vegetable oil and fish rich in omega 6 fatty acids and they are precursors to hormone-like substances in the body, also known as prostaglandins. Prostaglandins is involved in the menstrual cycle, ovulation and pregnancy maintenance.

Research also suggests that women who eat Mediterranean diet have higher levels of vitamin B6, and in one some studies prove that giving vitamin B6 to women who were having difficulty when trying to conceive increased their chances of pregnancy.

For this reason it is essential to include meditation into fertility yoga: involving your mind into connection between your body and mind. Yoga experts would say you should repeat a phrase of wanting to get pregnant in a way that awakens a peaceful spirit, transform it into mantra, and this way help yourself declare your purpose without fear or negativity.

Of course there are yoga postures that boost fertility, and are described as poses for infertility because they boost body restoration, promote hormone production, increase responsiveness of the body and promote blood circulation to reproductive organs.

Different fertility postures aim at different set of goals. For example, Supported Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana ), Supported Shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana) and Supported Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) both boost hormones and have balanced effect on hormones.

Forward bends are also recommendable; they include: Child’s Pose, Seated Forward Bend, Wide-Angle Pose (Upavistha Konasana), Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana) and Cobbler’s Pose or Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana), Staff Pose (Dandasana), Head-to-Knee Forward Bend (Janu Sirsasana), Garland Pose (Malasana) – they are rejuvenate the body. If you find some of these poses uncomfortable, place a chair in front of you and rest your head and arms on the seat for support. You can also use use a bolster for support.

Lotus pose, Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Bound Supta Baddha Konasana) and Reclining Hero Pose (Supta Virasana) relax and boost the abdominal area and send blood to reproductive organs at the same time. This is because they open and elongate the abdominal area.

Pose known as Legs on the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani) improves better sperm penetration in the uterus. This pose is recommendable after coitus since it encourages the possibility for the sperm penetration. Prepare the pose before coitus, and keep the abdominal area soft as you move into and out of the pose – your partner can assist you to make this possible. For beginners most of the poses might be a bit uncomfortable at start, for this reason it is recommended to use pillow or a towel that can help you feel more comfortable during the pose.