Infertile Patient query - IUI versus laparoscopy ?
Hi, Dr Malpani. I have been reading your blog and have found it to be very helpful. My husband and I have started infertility treatments and options. Briefly, this is what has happened: -We have been trying for a year naturally (both 29 years old) -Did blood work to check all hormonal levels and everything is normal -Husband did semen analysis and that is better than normal -PCT was done twice (wish I had known this is kind of outdated and most doctors don't do this but oh well, what is done is done!) and both showed that sperm were not swimming like they should at all -Doctor/OBGYN had recommended using mucinex but cervic...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - July 15, 2014 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Artificial insemination Dr Malpani endometriosis In vitro fertilisation Infertility Invasiveness of surgical procedures laparoscopy Surgery Source Type: blogs
IVF overtesting in the futile quest for certainty
When I review the medical records of patients who have done IVF in other clinics , I'm quite amazed by the amount of testing which they've undergone . A lot of these tests are extremely expensive -and many are exotic ; of unproven value; and provide information which is of no clinical use. It’s a long list – and includes: NK cell testing; pregnancy destroying factor; TB PCR testing of the endometrium; and TORCH tests.Why do doctors do so many unnecessary tests ?There are multiple reasons.One is financial. It’s much more profitable to order the test , and it's often easier to do this. One of the reasons doctors ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - July 14, 2014 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Assisted reproductive technology Health In vitro fertilisation Latin Medicine Natural killer cell patient Scandinavia Source Type: blogs
IVF process versus outcome
The outcome of an IVF cycle is always uncertain . When a cycle fails, the patient is never sure whether the failure was because the right process was not followed, or because of plain bad luck or an intrinsic biological problem ( for example, women with poor quality eggs have a low chances of success, no matter how good the quality of medical care they receive)How does the patient judge the quality of care provided – whether or not the doctor did a good job technically and followed all the right medical processes ?Sadly, most patients are never certain whether she should change the doctor for her next cycle; or if ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - July 14, 2014 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Clinic Health In vitro fertilisation Infertility ivf Medicine patient Reproductive Health Source Type: blogs
Malpani Clinic specialises in treating women with failed IVF cycles
After a failed IVF cycle it's often hard to bounce back. Even though your head understands that IVF doesn't have a 100% success rate, it's hard to deal with the failure. In their heart of hearts, every patient who starts an IVF cycle believes that this cycle is going to work ! ( If they didn't, it'd be very difficult to even start the cycle ). However , failed IVF cycles are a fact of life and over 50% of cycles will end up as failed IVF cycles, no matter how good the IVF clinic. The failure rate is much higher in poor quality clinics.Many IVF doctors do not like treating these patients, because they believe they hav...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - March 26, 2014 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: ICSI In vitro fertilisation Infertility Intracytoplasmic sperm injection ivf Malpani Infertility Clinic Poor ovarian reserve Source Type: blogs
When more is not better in IVF - PGS/CCS reduces IVF success rates
PGS and CCS seems to be the hottest new flavour of the month in IVF. Many patients come to us and ask that we do PGS/CCS for them. Typically, these are older women or those who have failed IVF cycles elsewhere. They have read about this new technique online, and want us to do it for them, because it is supposed to improve IVF success rates.There is a good reason why PGS/CCS is so appealing. It allows us to screen embryos , so that we can selectively transfer only the genetically normal embryos. Isn't it common sense that doing so will improve IVF success rates ? And since it's the newest technology around, it's being...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - March 25, 2014 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Embryo Health In vitro fertilisation Infertility Intracytoplasmic sperm injection PGS Preimplantation genetic diagnosis Reproductive Health Source Type: blogs
The older newly married couple and infertility
We are now seeing a different kind of patient in our clinic these days. These are couples who are older and have got married recently , so typically the wife is more than 35 ; the husband is more than 40. They are usually professionals who have had very busy lives and fulfilling careers . They are doing very well for themselves ; and chose not to get married for many years because they couldn't find the right person. Now that they have finally found the right person ( often online , thanks to sites like shaadi.com; or through friends, neighbors, relatives), when they finally hook up with someone they then need to dec...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - March 24, 2014 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: ICSI In vitro fertilisation Infertility Intracytoplasmic sperm injection ivf Malpani Infertility Clinic Poor ovarian reserve Sperm donation Source Type: blogs
Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan: All your questions about IVF and surrogacy answered
Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan is all set to become a father for the third time. But before you start looking for pictures of a pregnant Gauri Khan, here is the big news – the power couple are actually having a baby via surrogacy. Ironically, it was his arch-rival Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao who made headlines by declaring they were having a baby through in-vitro fertilisation or IVF which went a long way in making these topics mainstream and getting rid of the taboo attached to it. We spoke to our expert Dr Aniruddha Malpani, renowned IVF specialist, about surrogacy and what it mea...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - June 19, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
IVF Promises a Bundle of Joy
Instead of wasting time with ineffective procedures that score low on success rate, many patients are opting to go for IVF, to maximise their chance of living their dream of healthy baby
“Technological innovations which simplify IVF and make it less expensive are going to be very important”
In the past, In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) was often the method of last resort for infertile couples. There were very few clinics which had the equipment and expertise to offer this advanced technology; the success rate was poor; and there were many myths and misconceptions ab...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - June 18, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Uterus Transplant Baby Lost
This is so incredibly sad for so many reasons. There is really nothing else to say. (I have already expressed my concerns about uterine transplants here.) From the UK's Daily Mail:A woman who was the first to have a successful womb transplant from a dead donor has had her pregnancy terminated after the embryo showed no heartbeat, doctors in Turkey have said.Derya Sert, 22, who was born without a womb, had been receiving in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment after the transplant in August 2011.Her pregnancy was announced in April.But in a statement released today by Akdeniz University Hospital in Turkey's Mediterranean cit...
Source: Mary Meets Dolly - May 17, 2013 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Tags: Reproductive Technologies Source Type: blogs
Why are there so many "treatments" for failed embryo implantation ?
As an IVF specialist , one of the commonest questions patients ask me is - Why did my IVF cycle fail ? This is a perfectly valid question , and I can understand why patients want an answer. After all, once we knew what the problem was , it's quite logical that we would be able to find a solution for it ! However, the sad truth is that our technology has limitations and it's not possible for us to answer the question as to why an individual IVF cycle fails. After all , when you transfer a microscopic ball of cells inside the uterine cavity , it’s impossible to determine its fate and to find out exactly why the embryo did ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 22, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Uterus patient Question Pregnancy Embryo IVF Process Source Type: blogs
How to earn your doctor’s respect
The commonest complaint patients have about doctors is that they do not take the time or the trouble to explain to them what's happening . Doctors are notorious for cutting off patients right in the middle of a sentence. They also use a lot of jargon, thus obfuscating matters and confusing patients. This causes patients to become frustrated and unhappy , because they feel doctors are not being transparent ; and are not willing to share information.
It's not that doctors are trying to hide information from their patients . Doctors are busy people , who obviously want to increase their throughput , and see as many patients...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 16, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health Ask an Expert In vitro fertilisation patient Question The Doctor (film) Services Physician Source Type: blogs
What can husbands do for their wives during their IVF cycle ?
This is a guest post from an expert patient !
If your wife is going through IVF, there are many ways you can support her. Most couples find it difficult to talk about their infertility problems and experiences with family and close friends. This leaves them isolated without much emotional and moral support from the outside. Women need to talk about their problems and feelings in order to feel better and to gain a realistic perspective on things. Going through infertility treatment is difficult enough, but going through it alone, with no one to share your feelings with is much worse. Unfortunat...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 13, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health Talk radio Pregnancy Clinics and Services Artificial insemination Infertility Source Type: blogs
Why has Singapore banned social egg freezing ?
I always thought of Singapore as being an advanced country which offered high quality medical care to its citizens ( they offer free IVF treatment cycles to their citizens) . This is why I was dismayed to learn that they have banned social egg freezing.Egg freezing is an advance which allows young women to postpone childbearing until they've found the right partner ; or decided that they are ready to have a baby . This is a big boon for young professional women who want to pursue a career. It ensures that biology is not destiny - and that these women can have their cake and eat it too ( just like men can !) It's usually on...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 10, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation decision making Reproductive Health Oocyte cryopreservation Pregnancy Singapore Infertility Source Type: blogs
Managing an IVF patient's expectations
One of the hardest things for an IVF specialist to do is to manage a patient's expectations. It's hard being infertile and infertile patients come to an IVF specialist with a lot of hopes and dreams and desires. They expect the IVF specialist to help them to have a baby - and understand that IVF represents their best chance of actually becoming parents . Empathetic IVF physicians understand how much rides on the outcome of an IVF cycle, and do their best to keep their patients hopeful. Doctors are naturally optimistic by nature - and when a patient comes to you in pain , you want to your best in order to help them achieve ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 9, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health ivf patient Infertility Failure Source Type: blogs
God, infertility and IVF
This article is like a baby’s first step , and I hope it doesn’t hurt anyone’s ideology. I hope I will not get a mail saying I am a blasphemer! The following definition I developed in my mind about God helped to me to be at peace with myself - and I hope it helps some of you too. God is a form of energy. There is a powerful energy which is operating in this world. We can understand it when we think about this world’s architecture. In fact, why consider such complex things – just think about our body and how reproduction happens. Two minute cells unite to give birth to the most complex living organism. Being a bio...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 8, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Prayer In vitro fertilisation Religion and Spirituality Manju Infertility God Christianity Lord's Prayer Source Type: blogs
