Early Miscarriage vs Chemical Pregnancy: 3 Things to Know

There are multiple types of Early Miscarriage. It is important to learn which type you are having for optimal treatment.



A chemical pregnancy (also known as biochemical pregnancy) is a pregnancy that has been confirmed by a blood or urinary pregnancy test.



A biochemical pregnancy loss is a type of early miscarriage that is lost before it reaches the point there it can be seen on ultrasound.



Biochemical pregnancy losses appear to be much different than clinical pregnancy losses.



A clinical pregnancy losses is a type of early miscarriage that occurs after being verified with ultrasound. You should know the difference as it has important implications for your treatment.



It is well known that clinical pregnancy losses are most commonly due to chromosome abnormalities. Testing embryos for chromosome abnormalities during IVF will reduce the number of clinical miscarriages. The older a woman gets, the bigger the decrease in clinical miscarriage will occur with PGS.

However, a number of studies have found that the use of PGS does not reduce the risk for biochemical pregnancies in IVF. Stated another way, most biochemical pregnancy losses are not due to chromosome abnormalities



Chemical pregnancies are not just a result of fertility treatment



Many women become aware they have had a chemical pregnancy because fertility doctors closely monitor them for the occurrence of a pregnancy. Sensitive blood tests can detect a biochemical pregnancy even before a woman misses her period. Women who are not involved with fertility treatments miss these very early pregnancy losses or attribute them to something else - like stress causing her period to be late.



In 2015, doctors from Canada compared the rate of biochemical pregnancy loss in women doing IVF to women who conceived on their own without fertility treatment. They found that the biochemical pregnancy loss rate was actually a little lower in the IVF patients. This shows us that biochemical pregnancies are not just the result of fertility treatments.



Doctors don't understand recurrent biochemical pregnancy losses



The vast majority of the studies that have been done on couples with miscarriage or recurrent miscarriage have specifically excluded couples with biochemical losses. So all of the recommendations for testing and treatment that you see about the antibodies and other problems - do not apply to recurrent biochemical losses. The bottom line is that doctors do not understand recurrent biochemical losses at all and therefore doing the same thing we do for recurrent clinical losses is not warranted at this time.



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



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#earlymiscarriage  #chemicalpregnancy #chemicalpregnancymiscarriage

Male Fertility Supplements - Do They Work?

Fertility supplements are often recommended to boost male fertility. Can they increase sperm counts naturally? Surprising new research from Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert.



This video covers how natural fertility supplements (sometimes called fertility foods ) like CoQ10, pycnogenol or vitamin E might work Hint: it has to do with free radicals!



Check out our Supplements Playlist!



#malefertilitysupplements #fertilitysupplements #malefertility



Subscribe to InfertilityTV now! It's like having a Fertility Specialist in your phone!



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF1 located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



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More tips for 1st Time IVF Success - Will Endometrial Scratch improve em...

There have been lots of different techniques described to improve the chances for 1st Time IVF Success. One of those techniques is called endometrial scratching. But will this help an IVF embryo implantation?



The basic process is pretty simple. A doctor puts some sort of instrument or catheter into the uterus. The uterine lining is then intentionally damaged by scraping it or sucking some pieces into a catheter or other methods.



Sounds kind of crazy, right? Why would anybody want to intentionally damage the uterine lining? Well, there is a theory that by doing this, that maybe you can get a big release of growth factors or other beneficial molecules that might help increase the chances for an embryo to implant.



In fact, there have been some studies that seemed to show an improvement in the chance for implantation in couples who had multiple failures. But what about couples who are doing their very first IVF transfer?



In early 2019, researchers searched for a bunch of studies that have looked at endometrial scratch for 1st time IVF success. They combined all of the data into one giant study called a meta analysis. What did they find? Unfortunately, it didnt work. Couples who had the scratch didn't do any better than couples who didn't.



Our InfertilityTV Bottom line. If you are going to be doing your very first IVF embryo transfer - dont do the scratch- it doesn't help



Make sure you check out THIS playlist for more first time IVF success tips.



#IVFImplantationTips #FirstTimeIVFSuccess #EndometrialScratch





Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

*******************************************



Register online here:

https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient



Or call:

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IVF Frozen embryo transfer - FET - What is the best way to prepare the u...

IVF FET or Frozen embryo transfer is associated with an almost 10% better chance for pregnancy than fresh transfer. The benefit is thought to be in the preparation of the uterus. But what is the best way to prepare the uterus?



In order to prepare the uterus for implantation, you need two hormones: estrogen and progesterone. Simply put, the estrogen makes the uterine lining thicker and progesterone changes the lining so it can accept an embryo.



The most common method for uterine preparation has a woman taking medications containing estrogen and progesterone to prepare the uterus. The estrogen is given commonly by a pill orally but can also be given vaginally. Some doctors like to give estrogen patches or even estrogen injections. Progesterone is given typically as a vaginal suppository in combination with progesterone injections.



Less commonly, doctors may choose to use the estrogen and progesterone that a woman makes naturally when she develops an egg and ovulates. This is known as Natural cycle FET. Obviously, if a woman does not ovulate, this method is not an option



Which way is better? Several studies have compared the two methods. As happens many times with medical studies, the studies did not all agree on the same conclusion. In other words, some studies indicated that natural cycle FET was better. Some studies concluded that hormone FET was better and some said it didnt matter



When this happens, we at InfertilityTV will look for a type of study called a meta analysis. With a meta analysis, multiple smaller studies can be combined into one larger study. The greater number of patients studies, the greater the chance that you will get valid conclusions



So, in 2019, a group of doctors from Brazil performed a meta analysis comparing natural cycle FET to hormone FET. In the end, the meta analysis looked at 5 studies involving nearly 9000 FET cycles. What did they find?  Neither natural cycle or hormone prepared FET could be proven to be better.



So, if you are planning to do an FET cycle. Its probably ok to choose either one of these methods. However, I will point out that doing a natural cycle can be much more difficult because of the close monitoring that is required to determine the exact time of ovulation. For these reasons, at IVF1, we prefer to do do FET cycles with hormone preparation



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

*******************************************



Register online here:

https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient



Or call:

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First Time IVF Success Tips : Does Embryo Testing (PGD / PGS / CCS ) Ma...

Abnormal embryos could be affecting your chances for First Time IVF Success. Embryo testing, using PGD or PGS, can help identify abnormal embryos. But does the type of testing make a difference? Find out in today’s episode of InfertilityTV.



Here is the simple explanation. Most of the embryos that humans make are abnormal. Normal embryos have certain number of chromosomes. 23 from the mother and 23 from the father. A total of 46. If an embryo has more or less than that - it is considered abnormal. Three things happen to abnormal embryos if they are placed into the uterus.

They fail to implant and you don’t get pregnant

The embryo implants but later miscarries. Chromosome abnormality is the most common cause for miscarriage

The embryo implants but doesn’t miscarry. These will result in babies with birth defects like Down syndrome



We have excellent evidence that testing embryos for chromosome abnormalities in older women will increase the chance for pregnancy, reduce the risk for miscarriage and reduce the chance for those birth defects.



However, there are different technologies for testing embryos and they don't all work the same.

The oldest technology, known by its acronym “FISH” only looks at a few chromosomes. It really has no place for chromosome screening today



A newer technology known as array CGH was a significant improvement over FISH in that it looked at all 23 pairs of chromosomes. It is still in common use today.



The most recent technology is known as Next Generation Sequencing which also has the ability to look at all 23 pairs of chromosomes but has the further ability to identify some types of structural abnormalities and cases when an embryo has a mixture of different chromosome types - a problem known as mosaicism.



In 2018, researchers looked at nearly 1000 cases in which couples had a single embryo transfer after chromosome testing by either aCGH or NGS. Their findings are very important for you. They found that the ability of an embryo to implant in the uterus and continue as a normal pregnancy was better for NGS than for aCGH.



Our InfertilityTV recommendation for our patients is (until a better technology comes along), Next Generation Sequencing is the best method for embryo testing and results in nearly a 10% increase in the chance for an ongoing pregnancy.



#FirstTimeIVFsuccess  #PGS #NGS



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

*******************************************



Register online here:

https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient



Or call:

630-357-6540

First Time IVF Success - Should you have your tubes removed?

Will removal of blocked fallopian tubes improve your chances for First Time IVF Success? In some cases, this can result in doubling of your chances for IVF Success. IVF expert Dr Randy Morris explains in this episode of InfertilityTV.

You may have heard that some doctors recommend removal of blocked fallopian tubes prior to embryo transfer in order to improve first time IVF success. Is this something you should consider?

Getting pregnant with #IVF requires a lot of things to be perfect. For starters, you have to have a healthy, normal embryo and the uterine lining has to be at the right stage stage of development. But there could be other things that interfere with pregnancy. For example, if there is fluid in the uterus at the time of the transfer or shortly after. 

IVF experts have known for a long time that when it comes time to put an embryo into the uterus, fluid in the uterine cavity will lower the chances of success. In some cases, the cause for fluid in the uterine cavity is not known. In other cases, however, fluid in the cavity can be the result of blocked fallopian tubes.

This is important because blocked fallopian tubes is a common reason why couples need to do IVF in the first place. There are two categories of blocked tubes. Proximal blockage occurs when the tubes are blocked right where they attach to the uterus. Distal blockage is a block that occurs at the far end of the fallopian tube. Distal blockage is the kind that can result in fluid in the uterine cavity. You see, the tubes normally produce fluid that can escape out the end but if the end if blacked, that fluid can accumulate inside the tube and eventually leak into the uterine cavity. This is known as a hydrosalpinx.

This has a dramatic impact on pregnancy rates. Women with #hydrosalpinx have a 50% lower chance for pregnancy compare to women without. 

So how do you know if you have a hydrosalpinx? There are three methods

1) Ultrasound can sometimes find a swollen fluid filled fallopian tube 

2) An x-ray test called a hysterosalpingogram is an excellent non invasive way to find a hydrosalpinx

3) A surgical procedure, such as a laparoscopy, is invasive but is also an accurate way to find a hydrosalpinx.

At IVF1, we recommend that all women who are going to be treated with IVF should be assessed for hydrosalpinx. If found, then we recommend that she have her fallopian tubes surgically removed before attempting to have an embryo transfer.

However, women who do not have hydrosalpinx will not benefit from fallopian tube removal.

#FirsttimeIVFSuccess

Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization) 

One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility

Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center. 

Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™

Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon

or visit our website at IVF1.com

*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

******************************************* 

Register online here:

https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient 

Or call:

630-357-6540

First Time IVF Success: The surprising facts about low dose aspirin

Today’s video is about the use of low dose aspirin to help with IVF success. Should you take a low dose aspirin every day to increase your chance for first time IVF success.



Why aspirin you ask? Isn’t heparin for headaches? Actually, aspirin has a lot of different effects. At standard doses, it can help reduce the pain of headaches and is also effective for reducing fevers. In low doses, aspirin can also reduce the risk for blood clots and improve circulation in the tiniest blood vessels.



Specifically, low dose aspirin has been found, in various studies, to improve blood flow to the ovaries during the use of fertility medications and improve the thickness of the uterine lining which could help with implantation.



But, does the use of low dose aspirin actually get more couples pregnant and more couples to deliver a baby.



A number of studies have been published which have tried to answer this question. The results have been mixed. This means that some studies showed a benefit to using low dose aspirin and some studies found no benefit.



This happens fairly often in medicine where studies reach different conclusions. One way to figure out what is going on is to combine all of the smaller studies into one very big study. This is called a meta-analysis. Think of it this way, doctors can be more confident about the results of a study if you have 1,000 patients compared to say 100. Meta-analyses can also weed out studies that were not of very good quality.



So what’s the bottom line? In 2017, a meta-analysis of 13 studies which included over 3000 women was published. Compared to women who didn’t receive any, women given low dose aspirin during their IVF cycle had the same number of eggs retrieved, the same fertilization rate, the same uterine lining thickness, the same percentage of embryos implanted and the same delivery rate.



So the bottom line is this. Low dose aspirin is unlikely to improve your chances for IVF success or if it does, the effect is probably really small. So why do doctors still recommend low dose aspirin? WEll, the data didn’t show any harm to using low dose aspirin. In addition, it is inexpensive and doesn’t have any significant side effects. The hope is that there might be some rare patients that might still benefit. 

First Time IVF Success Tips: Should you use Heparin?

The internet is full of supposed tips and tricks to achieve 1st time IVF success. At InfertilityTV we will explore whether using heparin is helpful in achieving 1st time IVF success

The first question to answer is why was heparin recommended for IVF? Heparins are a group of medications which are primarily used to reduce the chance for blood clots to form in blood vessels. Some studies found a relationship between blood clots forming in the uterus and the risk of miscarriage or recurrent miscarriage. In addition, some women have a medical problem called thrombophilia which means they are at greater risk for having blood clots form.

As a result, some doctors started using heparin in couples with recurrent miscarriage, especially those with thrombophilias, with some success. This led to the question of whether using heparins would also improve the chance for implantation in patients attempting pregnancy with IVF.

A number of studies have been published which have tried to answer this question. The results have been mixed. This means that some studies showed a benefit to using heparin and some studies found no benefit.

This happens fairly often in medicine where studies reach different conclusions. One way to figure out what is going on is to combine all of the smaller studies into one very big study. This is called a meta-analysis. Think of it this way, doctors can be more confident about the results of a study if you have 1,000 patients compared to say 100. Meta-analyses can also weed out studies that were not of very good quality.

So what’s the InfertilityTV bottom line?

In 2018, a meta-analysis of five high quality studies involving nearly 1000 total patients found no benefit in using heparin for IVF. Women given heparins during their IVF cycle didn’t get pregnant more often, they didn’t miscarry less and they didn’t have a baby more often than women who didn’t use heparins. This study did not find a benefit even in couples that had two previous failed IVF cycles or 3 previous failed IVF cycles.

One important thing to note, these studies looked specifically at women who did not have a thrombophilia - a blood clotting problem.

#IVFSuccess #IVFSuccessTip #IVF

Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)

One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility

Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.

Increase your "Infertelligence" ™

Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!
A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon

or visit our website at IVF1.com

*******************************************
Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?
*******************************************

Register online here:
https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPorta...

Or call:
630-357-6540

How to get pregnant fast with ovulation problems

If you want to get pregnant fast, but you have ovulation problems, there are a number of steps you can take. Watch this episode of infertility TV to learn the best tips.



There are several ways you might know if you are having ovulation problems. The most obvious is if you are not getting your period at all or if your period is coming infrequently. Normally, your period should come roughly every month.



You can also diagnose a problem if your home ovulation tests fail to turn or positive and of course if your doctor tells you that you are not ovulating based on blood testing.



Some types of ovulation problems can be fixed directly. The most common fixable causes for ovulation problems are

Thyroid problems. If your thyroid is over or under active, medication to treat the problem will usually result in your ovulation returning



High levels of prolactin. Prolactin is a hormone produced in your pituitary gland. If you are not pregnant or breast feeding, your prolactin levels should be low. If they are high, that can prevent you from ovulating. There are very effective medications that are available to lower your prolactin levels and using these medications will result in ovulation and pregnancy



Insulin resistance. Many women with ovulation problems have a disorder called PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome. Women with PCOS usually don’t ovulate because their bodies are resistant to the hormone insulin. Reducing insulin resistance through weight loss or medications like metformin can result in regular ovulation



What do you do if your doctor cannot find the cause for your ovulation problem? Or your cause for not ovulating can’t be fixed directly?  Luckily, we have another group of medications that can help women to ovulate. We called these fertility medications.



There are two groups of fertility medications:  pills and injections

Pills include medications such as letrozole, which works best for women with PCOS and Clomid which works well for most other women. There are several different brands of injections. The most commonly used fertility injections are Follistim and Gonal F but there are others.



Its always best if you can fix your underlying ovulation problem directly. If you do need to use fertility medications,  it will increase your risk for having a multiple pregnancy. Multiple pregnancies are riskier because the chance for serious complications is higher so you have to be willing to accept those risks if you are going to use fertility medications.

Get Pregnant Fast with Unexplained Infertility

Unexplained infertility is frustrating but there are fertility treatments to help you get pregnant fast.



Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV



Unexplained infertility is perhaps the most frustrating diagnosis to have. You have been trying to get pregnant, have done a whole bunch of tests and everything comes back normal. So what do you do? Find out on today’s episode of infertility TV



First make sure you have completed all of the standard infertility tests. You should have checked to make sure you ovulate, that your uterus is normal and fallopian tubes are open, that your ovarian reserve is normal, an ultrasound of your pelvis is normal, your thyroid is functioning as it should and your husband has a normal semen analysis and CapScore



If all of those tests are normal, then you can consider a few different treatments to speed up the time it takes for you to get pregnant. All of these treatment have two things in common. They use some kind of fertility medication and some method to increase the chance of getting his sperm to meet your egg.



Let's start with the easiest treatment. This uses the fertility medication called Clomid or clomiphene citrate. The idea here is that normally you release only one egg each month. USing Clomid, you can increase the number of eggs released and have a better chance that one of those eggs will get fertilized and implant in your uterus.



 It's very important that your doctor monitors you to determine when you ovulate. At the time of ovulation, instead of just having intercourse alone, consider having an IUI or intrauterine insemination. This will increase the number of sperm that gets into your fallopian tubes and increase the chance for pregnancy. This is true even if your partner has normal sperm testing.



You can try clomid with IUI up to four times. If you are still not pregnant, consider moving to a different treatment.



Another option is to use injection of fertility medication instead of clomid. Injections, like Follistim or Gonal F are more potent than Clomid. It is common to get more eggs to develop. As a result, the pregnancy rates with injections are higher than for Clomid. You should also do IUI with injections.



A word of caution here. The pregnancy rates are better which is great but there is a higher risk of having a multiple pregnancy compared to Clomid. And we are not just talking twins. There is a higher chance for having triplet quadruplets or even more.



One of the best treatments for unexplained infertility is IVF. The pregnancy rates are higher than they are for any other treatment. An added advantage is you get more control over your risk of multiple pregnancy. The best IVF programs in the world in 2019 put one embryo at a time into the uterus and so the risk for a multiple pregnancy is only a few percentage points.



There you have it! Three great tips for how to get pregnant fast with unexplained infertility.





#unexplainedinfertility #infertilitytreatment  #fertilitytreatment



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

*******************************************



Register online here:

https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient



Or call:

630-357-6540

More tips for 1st Time IVF Success

I have been getting a lot of Email from patients asking for more tips to increase their chances for first time IVF success. Here is our 2019 edition



IVF Success tip 1

Optimize the stimulation of the ovaries  - To get the best quality eggs, the ovaries need to be stimulated with two different hormones - FSH and LH. FSH is the hormone found in medications like Follistim and Gonal F. Either of these medications will work great for your IVF protocol.



LH however is a little trickier. When FSH is injected into your body, it lasts a long time - very stable. When LH is injected, however, the body breaks it down very quickly. So if you are using a source of LH like Menopur, its difficult to know if you will get the LH effect that you want.



Here is a little secret. LH is very similar to the hormone hCG. They both act at the same receptors in cells. In many cases, LH and hCG do the same thing. hCG however has a little extra piece that LH doesn’t have. That extra piece makes hCG more stable. When you inject hCG it lasts a long time in your body.



As a result, IVF protocols that combine FSH and hCG may work better than FSH and LH. So ask your doctor for the low dose hCG protocol. Oh and one other advantage, hCG is a lot cheaper so you can save a few thousand dollars in medication costs



IVF Success tip number 2

Use the right kind of progesterone. You already know from our last video on first time IVF success that you should be doing a frozen transfer instead of a fresh transfer. To do a frozen embryo transfer, you first prepare the uterus with two medications - estrogen (to get the lining thicker) and progesterone to make the lining receptive to an embryo. It does not seem to matter what kind of estrogen is used. It can be oral estrogen, vaignal estrogen, estrogen patches or even estrogen injections. Doesn’t matter.



The type of progesterone does matter however. This last year, a study was presented involving about 1000 women who were doing a frozen embryo transfer. They were split into three groups. Group 1 took vaginal progesterone only. Group two used vaginal progesterone and a daily injection of progesterone. The third group used vaginal progesterone and a progesterone injection every three days.



What they found is that the group using vaginal progesterone only had lower pregnancy rates. So much so that they stopped adding patients to that group even before the study was over. There was no difference detected in whether injections of progesterone were added every day or every three days.



So for this tip make sure you are taking both types of progesterone. Vaginal progesterone every day and injections of progesterone every 3 days



IVF success tip number 3

Timing the embryo transfer. It turns out that not only does it not matter what type of estrogen you use, it also doesn’t matter how long you take the estrogen. The amount of time for progesterone however is very improvement. Progesterone changes the uterine lining to make it receptive to an embryo. For most women, the optimal time to place a blastocyst stage embryo into the uterus is on the 6th day of progesterone. There are some women, however, where the timing is different. For those women, it might be better to put the embryo into the uterus before or after the 6th day. To determine the correct timing, we need to do a test called an Endometrial Receptivity Array or ERA. To do this test, a woman must take her estrogen and progesterone the same way she would if she was planning to do an embryo transfer. But, instead of doing an embryo transfer, her doctor will take a sample of her uterine lining for the ERA.



Not all women should have this test before their first attempt. This test is best for women who have already have had multiple failed transfer attempts. However, there are some circumstances in which it might make sense to do it before a first attempt. Women who are obese, with a BMI over 30 have a higher rate of timing problems. They should consider the ERA before their first attempt. Another group would be couples who only have one embryo for transfer. Just to do everything to maximize their chances for what might be their only attempt.



OK there you have it, three new tips for maximizing the chances for first time IVF success.

Exploding 5 Infertility Myths - Infertility TV

Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV



Dr. Morris here. As an infertility expert, I see lots of couples trying to conceive and I hear and see a lot of myths. You have enough stuff to worry about without having to follow ridiculous advice which complicates your life.



Myth number 1

Position during sex matters. You on top? Him on top? Sitting? Standing? Remember these four words. It just doesnt matter. There has never been a single shred of serious scientific evidence that says position during sex matters. Have intercourse however you like. Just make sure he ejaculates inside of you.



Myth number 2

You have to keep lying down after sex. Does not help. Get up and go to the bathroom if you want!



Myth number 3

You have to have intercourse multiple times. Wrong! There is a three day window. Two days before ovulation. One day before ovulation or on the day of ovulation. If you have intercourse on any of those days, you will maximize your chances for pregnancy that month. Not sure when you ovulate? Use an ovulation predictor test!! Can’t afford one? OK. If you have sex every other day, three times around the time you think you ovulate, you will still maximize your chances



Myth number 4

Men have to wear boxer shorts to get you pregnant. Not true. It actually doesn’t matter what type of underwear he wears. Don’t believe me? Check out this video!



Myth number 5

There are fertility Super Foods! This is the silliest myth of all. I went to the top 15 YouTube videos claiming to have the keys to conceiving quickly. I can tell you with certainty that none of the following foods will do anything special for your fertility. Chickpeas. Pomegranate. Pumpkin seeds. Almonds. Chili peppers or Bananas



OK. I hope I have been able to simplify your life. Have you heard about some tip that is supposed to help you get pregnant? Let us know in the comments and we will cover it in a future episode





Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



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A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



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10 Tips To Get Pregnant in 90 seconds

Need to know how to get pregnant fast? Dr. Morris gives valuable tips to get pregnant.  If you are having trouble getting pregnant, this will be the best 90 seconds you will spend today



Dr Randy Morris MD is The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV



#tipstogetpregnant #howtogetpregnantfast #ttc



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



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Will IVF PGD testing help you conceive in 2019?

PGD involves testing embryos for abnormalities during IVF before they are transferred into the uterus. Will it help you conceive and deliver? Stay tuned to find out.



The type of #PGD testing that is most common and the type we are going to be talking about today is sometimes referred to as #PGS, #CCS or PGT-a. This type of testing looks to see if an embryo has the correct number of chromosomes.



What is the correct number? 46. A normal, healthy embryo has 46 chromosomes. There are 23 pairs of each chromosome. Sometimes, however, mistakes are made so an embryo might have an extra chromosome or a missing chromosome. Sometimes, embryos can have a bunch of different chromosome abnormalities.



We know a lot about embryos with abnormalities in the number of chromosomes. First, these embryos are a lot less likely to implant in the uterus. So the chance for a positive pregnancy test goes way down. Second, if an embryo does implant, the chance for a miscarriage goes way up.



The big question is...will selecting an embryo for transfer that has a correct number of chromosomes using PGD, increase the chance that the embryo will implant in the uterus. The answer is well agreed upon by all doctors. It will absolutely make the chance for implantation higher.



The next question is, in general, will selecting embryos with PGD improve the chances that women doing IVF will have a live born and healthy baby? This answer is a little trickier. The quick answer is that it may not help everybody.



Lets take the example of younger women. Younger women make less abnormal embryos. Doing PGD is less likely to change which embryo the doctor selects for transfer so there is less overall benefit for testing the embryo.



Older women make more abnormal embryos. The higher her age, the higher her percentage of abnormal embryos. So in this group there is a definite benefit to doing PGD.



What constitutes old? At IVF1, we recommend women consider doing PGD if they are 37 years of age or older.







Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



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PGS? PGD? 3 Different Types Of Embryo Testing To Help With Infertility

If you’re a couple with infertility considering IVF, you may have heard that genetic embryo testing is an option. There are different types of embryo testing with names like #PGD and #PGS 

It has become really confusing. I am going to clear this up for you.



In the beginning, all embryo testing was called PGD which stands for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis



Later, when different types of tests starting becoming popular, some additional acronyms were introduced



PGD was used to refer to testing embryos for mutations one specific gene. A common example is the disease cystic fibrosis.



PGS was used to refer to testing that looked at the number of chromosomes that an embryo had. A normal, healthy embryo has 46 chromosomes but often times, embryos will have extra or missing chromosomes. PGS Testing for these missing or extra chromosomes is the most common type of embryo testing that is performed today.



When the technology for testing embryos improved, and we were able to look at all 23 pairs of chromosomes instead of 5 or 6 pairs, many doctors started using another acronym instead of PGS. the new acronym, CCS stands for comprehensive chromosome screening.



Recently, one of our professional organizations has advocated changing these designations again. Its enough to make your head swim!!



Today, most people still use PGD to refer to any type of embryo testing. If you are considering #IVF with embryo testing just make sure that you understand what you are testing for and that you and your doctor are on the same page.





Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



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ICSI - Is it your key to IVF success?

it's

like having your own fertility5-10% of couple doing IVF will fail fertilization. If you are thinking about doing IVF, you better learn about ICSI and ask your doctor about it. It could hold they key to your IVF success.



ICSI stands for intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Its actually a very simple process. You should know that during IVF, eggs are removed from a woman’s ovaries and are fertilized outside the body in a laboratory. Instead of putting hundreds of thousands of sperm outside an egg and hoping that one sperm will be able to fertilize it, #ICSI uses one sperm and injects it directly inside the egg. The stuff inside an egg is called the cytoplasm so ICSI stands for intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection.



Why was ICSI a revolution for IVF? Well many couples with infertility have sperm problems. Sometimes the sperm number are low, other times the movement of sperm is poor or the sperm are shaped abnormally. Before ICSI, couples with these problems frequently had failure of their eggs to fertilize. The couples with severe male problems were considered poor candidates for IVF and had low pregnancy rates.



ICSI changed all that. Now couples who were considered poor candidates were all of a sudden great candidates for IVF. In fact, the worse the sperm problems were, the higher the couples chance for pregnancy using ICSI!



So which couples being treated with IVF should have ICSI?  One group of patients that all doctors would agree should have ICSI is couples with men who have an abnormal semen analysis. No controversy there. Also, couples who need to do genetic testing on their embryos, need to do ICSI to prevent the DNA from extra sperm from messing up the results.



But what about men who have a normal semen analysis? Well, as it turns out, studies have shown that men with a normal semen analysis may still fail to fertilize eggs in IVF 5-10% of the time. That’s not a high percentage but if you are that 1 in 10 couples who goes through an IVF cycle and then finds out that none of your eggs fertilized because of some undetected problem with sperm, it can be pretty devastating.



So I agree with the group of doctors who recommends ICSI for all couples doing IVF whether they have an abnormal semen analysis or not. But not all doctors agree with this approach.



By the way, ICSI doesn’t increase the chance for a pregnancy to occur over the older methods of fertilization. It just reduces the chances of fertilization failure so that a couple will have embryos to use to attempt pregnancy.



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



#IVF #intracytoplasmicsperminjection



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



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Varicocele - Is it killing your fertility? Learn what to do

Any man that has low sperm counts or poor sperm movement could have a problem known as a varicocele



A #varicocele is the presence of enlarged or dilated veins in the blood vessels of the scrotum.



Do varicoceles cause #infertility in men?

The answer is...sometimes. Watch for a complete explanation



We are not entirely certain how varicoceles cause infertility. Some evidence points to the increased temperature 



Another theory is that in men with varicoceles, the testicular fluid which carries sperm has an increased concentration of chemicals which can damage sperm.



So how do you know if you have a varicocele?

The most obvious cases can be seen by just looking at a guy’s scrotum.



Ultrasound of the scrotum can be used to diagnose a smaller, less obvious varicocele. Some advanced types of ultrasound can even measure blood flow in the veins of the scrotum.



Let’s say you have infertility and you have been diagnosed with a varicocele. What can you do?



There are a number of different ways to try to get rid of a varicocele. Watch this video for all the methods.



Finally, another alternative instead of improving the sperm is to try to make better use of the sperm that a guy does have. If his sperm problem is mild, an IUI or intrauterine insemination can increase the number of sperm that makes it into the fallopian tubes where fertilization happens. For guys with more severe sperm problems, IVF is a very effective treatment.



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and #IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



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Infertility Journey - Kathy and Brian - Surprise results after failed FET

After a failed FET cycle, Kathy and Brian's Infertility Journey let to a test called the Endometrial Receptivity Array or ERA. Abnormal results led to a change in protocol and....well, watch to find out the rest!



Infertility Journey explores the process of that couples go through who learn they have infertility, undergo fertility testing and begin fertility treatment.



Episodes of Infertility Journey are told by the patients themselves, in their own words, as they recount the difficult and sometimes emotional steps in the struggle to have a baby.



#ERA #FET #infertilityjourney



Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

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Azoospermia - Male infertility due to no sperm - How to get pregnant

Some cases of male infertility are due to azoospermia - no sperm - Learn the causes and ways to help your partner get pregnant.



There are two main categories of #azoospermia: Failure to produce sperm and complete blockage of sperm



Failure to produce sperm can be due to genetic or chromosome abnormalities, suppression from testosterone supplements or hormone problems.



Blockage can be from surgery (vasectomy) or being born with the necessary tubes needed to get sperm out.



In many cases, sperm can be obtained by surgery or needles aspiration of the testicles or nearby tubes.



These sperm can be used with #IVF to produce pregnancies.



#nosperm



Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

*******************************************



Register online here:

https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient



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Our Infertility Journey - Kathy and Brian - Emotional decision!

Cathy and Brian conceived the 1st time easily. For #2, they ran into difficulty and found Brian had low sperm counts. Faced with different options, how should they proceed?



For this episode of Our Infertility Journey, Kathy and Brian have to decide between treatment for Brian, which would be less invasive but could take several months... or proceed with IVF treatment.



They both did a ton of research and came up with a decision.



Infertility Journey explores the process of that couples go through who learn they have infertility, undergo fertility testing and begin fertility treatment.



Episodes of Infertility Journey are told by the patients themselves, in their own words, as they recount the difficult and sometimes emotional

All about egg donation - Pt 2 - For Egg Donors

Everything a potential egg donor needs to know about egg donation from the IVF egg donation expert - Dr Randy Morris



If you are a woman looking to donate your eggs or a woman who is looking for an egg donor, check out  IVF1Match       It’s completely free to use.



This video covers:



-- Who would make a good egg donor?



-- What do you need to do to become an egg donor ?



-- What does the entire process of egg donation entail?



-- What are the risks of egg donation ?



#eggdonor #eggdonation #ovumdonation  #IVFeggdonation #donoregg #ivf #donorrecipient  #donatingeggs #donoreggivfjourney #donoreggivf #donatedeggs #eggdonationprocedure  #eggdonorsurgery  #eggdonationsideeffects #eggdonationprocess  #eggdonationrequirements

Our Infertility Journey - IVF - We got 5 embryos at age 42! - Kirsten an...

Follow Part 2 of their Infertility Journey. With Kirsten now 42, they decide to try IVF. Despite some big hurdles, they have a surprising outcome.



After a successful IUI at age 40, Kirsten gave birth to their son, "Chance". They wanted to try for a sibling for Chance but now they had even more obstacles than before.



Kirsten had been plagued with auto-immune problems, recurrent miscarriages and now was looking at turning 43!



Her friends and support groups told her to prepare for failure but she decided to pursue treatment anyway.  Find out what happened...



#infertilityjourney #ivfjourney #ourinfertilityjourney



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



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Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

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All about egg donation - Pt 1 - For Egg Donor recipients

Everything an egg donor recipient needs to know about egg donation from the IVF egg donation expert - Dr Randy Morris



If you are a woman looking to donate your eggs or a woman who is looking for an egg donor, check out www.ivf1match.com

It’s completely free to use.



Egg donation can be considered in several different situations. The most obvious is when a women who wants to become pregnant does not have ovaries. This usually occurs because she has had surgery to remove her ovaries but there are also situations in which a woman could be born without ovaries.



Women who have ovaries may also, at times, need an egg donor. Common situation include



-- Advanced   age

-- Poor ovarian reserve

-- IVF problems

-- Genetic problems



The first step in the process is to select an egg donor. An ideal egg donor is young, healthy and does not have a history of infertility herself. Donors can be someone you know such as a relative or friend or they can be anonymous. Once you have selected a possible donor applicant, she must go through extensive testing to look at her ovarian function and make sure she does not have any potential infectious diseases.



For you, it is important to have a good evaluation of your uterine cavity. This can be accomplished with a hysteroscopy or a saline ultrasound.



The actual egg donation treatment can be completed in a number of ways. The donor will take fertility medications to stimulate the maturation of multiple eggs in her ovaries at the same time. After several days, the eggs will be retrieved and fertilized with the sperm of your partner or a sperm donor. The embryos are left to develop in the laboratory for several days.



At this point, an embryo can be transferred into your uterus provided your uterus has been prepared with medication to receive an embryo at that moment. This requires precise synchronization of your cycles with the donor cycle



Another option is to freeze the embryos so they can be placed into you uterus at any convenient time. This way, you don’t have to worry about synchronization.



It is also possible to freeze the donated eggs before fertilization. There are a few egg banks where you can get frozen donor eggs but this is a pretty expensive option.



Pregnancy success rates with egg donation are very high provided that the donor you selected is a young donor. We generally recommend donors under the age of 25.



The risk for multiple pregnancy is higher with donor eggs so you should never transfer more than one embryo at a time to you uterus. Donors generally produce a lot of eggs so there is a good chance for having extra embryos that can be frozen for your own future use.



Pregnancies conceived with donor eggs may have a higher risk for blood pressure problems. Be sure you discuss that with your doctor.



This is a big topic, I could probably talk about it all day. Instead, why don’t you let me know what specific questions you have about egg donation in the comments and dont forget to subscribe to InfertilityTV for weekly tips to guide you on your infertility journey.



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



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Our Infertility Journey - Trying to Conceive at 40 - Kirsten and Chris

Every Infertility Journey is different.  Chris and Kirsten openly discuss their inspirational struggle trying to conceive after miscarriages with Kirsten turning 40 years old.



Follow the Infertility Journey of several couples on InfertilityTV



Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly #TTC tips on InfertilityTV



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



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Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

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#infertilityjourney #IUI

Acupuncture for IVF Success - Infertility TV

Learn the latest scientific proof (2019) about acupuncture and IVF Success. You will be surprised!



As an IVF expert with a busy clinical practice, I am constantly asked about other things that a couple can do to increase their chances for #IVF success. Questions about #acupuncture are the most common.



If you do a search in the National Library of Medicine, you will find over 100 articles about acupuncture and IVF success. But, if you narrow that down to only clinical studies in which real acupuncture was compared to fake or sham acupuncture, you get a much more manageable number.



Perhaps the best study to date was was conducted at 16 IVF centers in Australia and New Zealand and involved over 800 women undergoing a fresh IVF cycle. This makes it one of the largest and best designed clinical studies.of acupuncture and IVF success.



The results? Acupuncture did not result in any higher pregnancy rates. In other words, for improving IVF success, acupuncture failed. These results match those of a Danish study of over 600 IVF couples and a Chicago study of 160 patients and well you get the idea.



However, don’t click away yet. These studies did not reveal lower IVF pregnancy rates with acupuncture, they just weren’t any better. In other words, acupuncture didn’t harm the chances for IVF success, it just didnt help. Also, many patients found the experience pleasurable or relaxing.



So bottom line IVF patients: If you are thinking of doing acupuncture solely to increase your chance for pregnancy, then save your money. If you are thinking of doing acupuncture for fun or relaxation, go ahead, it won’t lower your chance for success





Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the #TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



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Tubal Pregnancy - This video could save your fertility & your life!!

Tubal pregnancy can be a really dangerous problem. Expert Dr Morris discusses causes, symptoms and treatments. Must view!



Bleeding from a #tubalpregnancy causes almost 10% of pregnancy related deaths. It is the number one cause of death in the first trimester of pregnancy. Diagnosing and treating a tubal pregnancy before it starts bleeding can literally save your life.



Tubal pregnancy is not as common as early miscarriage. About 1 in every 50 pregnancies in the US is a tubal pregnancy. However, certain women may have a much higher risk for tubal pregnancy.

Smokers have four times as many tubal pregnancies as non-smokers so their risk is about 1 in 12.

If you had a tubal pregnancy before, your risk for having another tubal pregnancy is about 1 in 5.

If you became pregnant after you had your tubes tied, your risk for tubal pregnancy is 1 in 3

Other factors that increase the risk for tubal pregnancy include

-- Being over age 35

-- Having a history of infertility

-- Surgery on a fallopian tube

-- Scar tissue in the abdomen (from infection or surgery or endometriosis)

-- Previously having a sexually transmitted infection

-- Having multiple sexual partners

-- Getting pregnant when using an IUD (intrauterine device)



Not all women who have a tubal pregnancy will have symptoms. Those who do have symptoms commonly report vaginal bleeding and pain. The pain could be just cramps or be more severe. The pain could be in the abdomen or pelvic region or even back pain.



Unfortunately, these are the exact same symptoms of early miscarriage. Without ultrasound, it is impossible to tell the difference between a tubal pregnancy and an early miscarriage. So getting an ultrasound is really really important. I can’t stress this enough. If you are pregnant and having pain and or bleeding, contact your doctor to be evaluated right away.



Once a tubal pregnancy has been diagnosed, there are a few different ways it can be treated. If the tubal pregnancy is already bleeding or causing lots of pain, then surgery is going to be needed. If its a very early tubal pregnancy, that is not yet causing any problems, then a medication called methotrexate can a be very successful treatment.



One thing to be aware of regarding methotrexate. It can stay in your body for a long time so you won’t be able to attempt pregnancy again for several months. So if you are anxious to get pregnant again quickly, even if you are not having any problems, you might want to consider surgery.



There's no way to prevent an #ectopic pregnancy, but here are some ways to decrease your risk:

-- Limit your number of sexual partners.

-- Always use a condom during sex to help prevent sexually transmitted infections

-- Don't smoke. If you do, quit before you try to get pregnant.



If you have had a previous tubal pregnancy or multiple tubal pregnancies, you might want to consider treatment with IVF. It won’t eliminate the chances of a tubal pregnancy, but it will lower the risk significantly



Women who have #ectopicpregnancy particularly if they have been attempting to conceive for a long period of time, often ask whether the pregnancy can be removed from the tube and then transplanted into the uterus where it might grow normally. Unfortunately, this is not possible with present medical science.





Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

*******************************************



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Early miscarriage - 25 things to know when trying to conceive

Dr Randy Morris MD teaches everything you should know about Early Miscarriage.



Stay tuned to the end for advice about getting pregnant again after an early miscarriage.



#earlymiscarriage #miscarriage #ttc



The first and maybe the most important thing to know about early miscarriage is that is extremely common. Between 50 to 60% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Of those, about half are very early miscarriages which often occur before a woman even knows she is pregnant.



An early miscarriage is defined as a pregnancy loss that occurs during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. But really, most early miscarriages occur before your doctor can see a fetus with heart motion on an ultrasound which is typically around 7 to 8 weeks.



The good news is that if you have an early pregnancy and are experiencing vaginal bleeding, but your doctor can see fetal heart motion on ultrasound, 95% of those pregnancies will go on to result in a viable baby.



A slow heart rate on ultrasound, however, is a concerning sign. A slow heart rate is seen in nearly 70% of early miscarriages. Stated another way, the likelihood of having an early miscarriage is 30 times higher if the ultrasound shows a low heart rate. A slow heart rate in combination with vaginal bleeding is seen in 85% of early miscarriages. How slow is slow? If the measured heart rate is less than 110 bpm, then that is of concern



A number of things can cause an early miscarriage. The most common cause is the embryo or fetus does not have the correct number of chromosomes. A normal fetus has 46 chromosomes, 23 from each parent. 60-70% of early miscarriages are found to have an incorrect number of chromosomes. As women get older, this number gets higher. So older women are more likely to have a miscarriage and any given miscarriage is more likely to be from a chromosome problem.



Other things that probably increase the- risk for early miscarriage include:

-- Smoking

-- Drinking Alcohol

-- Caffeine

-- Obesity

-- Taking supplements (other than prenatals)



Things that do NOT cause early miscarriage include

-- Stress

-- Having sex during pregnancy

-- Exercise during pregnancy

-- Using birth control before pregnancy

-- Falling during pregnancy

-- Getting hit in the abdomen

-- Morning sickness



In fact, women with morning sickness have a lower risk of miscarriage. 



The most common signs and symptoms of early miscarriage are vaginal bleeding and cramping. However, these symptoms are also pretty common in women who do not go on to have an early miscarriage.



If you are pregnant and have bleeding, please contact your doctor for further evaluation. Your doctor will want to get a blood test to measure your hCG levels and an ultrasound. This is important to do because some women with early pregnancy bleeding may actually have a tubal pregnancy which is less common but much more dangerous.



One of the most common questions I get asked is: Can an early miscarriage be prevented? The answer depends on whether your are already pregnant. If you are not pregnant and you are trying to prevent an early miscarriage in your next pregnancy, then there are a number of things you can do.



Stop those bad habits, Avoid alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine. If you are overweight - lose weight. If you are older, ask your doctor about IVF combined with testing the embryos for chromosome abnormalities.



If you have had multiple early miscarriages, meaning three or more, see you doctor to be evaluated for recurrent pregnancy loss. There may be treatable problems that can be found



If you are already pregnant, besides the things I discussed before, there is probably not much you can do. Bed rest will not help. Avoiding stress will not help though it may make you feel better. Taking progesterone supplements have been recommended in the past but there really is very little evidence that it will reduce the chance for an early miscarriage. But, it probably won’t harm anything.



Another question I get all the time is: How soon can you try to conceive after having had a miscarriage? In the past, doctors told patients, without any evidence, to wait at least three months. However, we have solid scientific data that shows; attempting pregnancy again right away, as soon as you start ovulating will increase the chance for a successful pregnancy. This could happen within a few weeks of an early miscarriage.



Finally, if you need fertility treatment to conceive, we recommend that you evaluate the uterine cavity before starting treatment again.





Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com





Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

*******************************************



Register online here:

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Or call:

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Do cell phones or EMF affect your fertility or miscarriage risk?

Are cell phones a cause for your infertility or miscarriages? What is EMF? Find out from Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV



Cell phones produce low level EMF or electromagnetic fields. We have cell phones on our body pretty much all day. Could that be the reason you are having trouble getting pregnant or staying pregnant?. Stay tuned to find out.



First, lets talk about the guys. Most of the studies on cell phones have studied men and their sperm. Many studies have found a link between cell phone use and some abnormality in a semen analysis. The trouble is not all studies have found an impact.



Studies that did show an impact on sperm, didn’t always show the same problem. For example, some showed lower sperm counts while others showed a lower percentage of moving sperm. One of the best studies to date, out of Boston, tried to account for as many cell phone related variables as possible like information on how much time was spent on the phone, whether a headset or earpiece was used, where on the body they carried the phone. They also tried to account for other variables like smoking, diet and obesity.



Bottom line? They did not find an impact of cell phones on any sperm numbers.



What about women? They use cell phones too. My research turned up four studies that all concluded that increased exposure to EMFs resulted in an increase in the risk for miscarriage. The more exposure the greater the risk.



One problem in looking at these studies is that there are so many sources of EMF besides cells phones from microwaves to vacuum cleaners. However, one study compared over 200 women who had an unexplained miscarriage to an equal sized group who did not have miscarriage. This study found a statistically valid relationship between cell phone use and miscarriage.



For example, women in the miscarriage group averaged 9 and a half minutes of talk time each day.. The non miscarriage group averaged only 3 minutes. The miscarriage group was three times more likely to keep their phones in their pockets and more than twice as likely to use their phone for other stuff besides talking.



Remember, that just because the cell phone use and miscarriage are linked does NOT mean that cell phones cause miscarriage. Finally, and I can’t stress this enough. There is no evidence that buying an expensive cell phone EMF shield does anything but make your bank account lighter. 



So until we have better data, you could take some reasonable precautions and put away your cell phone but before you do, tap or click here to subscribe



Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)



One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility



Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.



Increase your "Infertelligence"  ™



Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!

A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon



or visit our website at IVF1.com



*******************************************

Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?

*******************************************



Register online here:

https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient



Or call:

630-357-6540

Testosterone TRT and Fertility - The 3 most important things to know in ...

Are you a bodybuilder? Or have you been diagnosed with Low T testosterone? Watch this video if you ever want to have kids



First, to produce normal amounts of healthy sperm, a man must produce the correct hormones from the pituitary gland and testosterone from the testicles. This is an extremely important point. Men need a really high level of testosterone INSIDE THE TESTICLES for sperm production but testosterone alone cannot start or maintain sperm production



If a man is taking #testosterone supplements by ANY method #trt  patches, gels, shots whatever, they will suppresses the production of the pituitary hormones which in turn, causes the high levels of  testosterone inside the testicles to plummet.



The resulting testosterone levels in the blood are not nearly high to produce sperm but even if they were - there are still no hormones from the pituitary gland to help out.



This results in a suppression of sperm production so pronounced that it can actually be used as a male contraceptive. Let's put that another way. If a group of men is taking testosterone supplements, the sperm production will drop to 0 in nearly 90% of them. That’s no sperm. At all.



#fertility



The good news is that most men who have no sperm will recover after they stop using. But most is not all. Even a year after stopping, some men will still have no sperm or very low levels of sperm leaving them infertile.



Rescue medications like Clomid, hCG and hMG may help speed up the time it takes to resume sperm production but it doesn’t work for everybody. The longer you used and the higher dose, the greater the chance that you might not recover.



What’s the take home? If you are thinking about having children in the future, try to stay off testosterone supplements. If you must take T. Use as low a dose as possible for as short a time as possible. Go off of testosterone several months before you want to attempt pregnancy.



You can get great videos like this one delivered to your phone or computer every week. For free! All you have to do is tap or click right here. It couldn’t be easier. Its like having your own fertility specialist in your phone. Go ahead, try it!

Smoking and Infertility - 5 Things You Didn't Know

Its no surprise that smoking causes infertility. What is surprising is how much impact it has. I may have some good news at the end for you smokers



#1 Here’s a message I got from my website: Dr. Morris why do you have so much information about smoking? Nobody smokes anymore. Oh really? Even in 2018, about ⅓ of men and women of reproductive age in the United States are smokers. Despite all the warnings and public service announcements. One in three!



#2 Think cigarette smoke is only in the lungs? Think again. A recent study in IVF patients found breakdown products of nicotine in 100% of the follicular fluids of infertility patients undergoing IVF. The more they smoked, the higher the levels were found. In other words, if you are a smoker, your eggs are soaking 24 hours a day in cigarette smoke breakdown products.



Even more alarming? In that same study, 84% of women who were non-smokers and whose partners were non smokers, also had nicotine by-products in their follicular fluid. In other words, the people who smoke at your job are compromising your fertility!



#3 Smokers, you are going to run out eggs sooner. Cigarette smoking has been shown to accelerate the loss of eggs from the ovaries. One of the blood tests we use to measure how many eggs are left is the hormone FSH. Higher FSH levels mean less eggs remain. You commonly see this as women get older. Guess what? Smokers have 66% higher FSH levels than non-smokers. You are likely to go through menopause at an earlier age.-



#4 Smoking also affects IVF success. I know what you are thinking: I’ll just do IVF. Everybody gets pregnant with IVF right? Agreed, IVF is a very good treatment for most types of infertility. However, smokers doing IVF needed higher doses of those expensive fertility injections, but they still ended up with more cycles getting cancelled, less eggs when they weren’t cancelled, more cycles with failed fertilization and overall had a much lower pregnancy rate.



#5 Fine Dr. Morris. You have succeeded in stressing me out, I’m never going to get pregnant, I might as well just have another pack of cigarettes. Wait! Stop! I actually have some good news. Quitting smoking will improve your fertility. In fact, ex-smokers have similar fertility to non-smokers.



OK. That’s 5 things. For more information on smoking and fertility, go to my website at ivf1.com

But first, hit that subscribe button. Its right here! You’ll get fertility tips every week! Its like having a fertility specialist in your phone!