ART for discussion

Do you think that doctors over the past few years have gotten better at doing this?

Or do you think after 2, 4, or even 10 cycles they just get to know how people will respond to the meds, the procedures..etc..

Maybe a combo of both?

I've heard over the past year more and more successes through IVF..more multiple pregnancies.

When I've spoken to some people about it, they tell me about their sister, aunt, wife or friend who has had success..some after only a few cycles, some after one..some don't of course but I've heard recently more successes.

I know everyone is different, but I can't help but feel hopeful that as time goes on the technology will get better and doctors learn more and can make this happen more frequently.

I may be idealistic about it and that's ok. I need that to stay the course personally. A friend of mine tried a few years back, 6 IUIs, 4 IVFs and had no success. When I told her what I'm taking and what I'm doing some things were the same but other things were different..different meds, different things were told to her.

It's just an observation and I was curious if anyone was seeing this as well.

Like I said before, I'm idealistic for the most part but I'm hoping they'll get better at this and I'm hopeful they already have.

Re: ART for discussion

well in my case as time went on different treatments came out and I believe that is why I am pregnant right now.. ie: I did my first 2 ivf's untreated for N/K cells and blood clotting.. This last one I am being treated and it seemed to do the trick.. But the main thing that I feel was the answer was those intrilipids.. I believe they helped my egg quality and implantation.. They were not doing them when I first started all of this.. So my answer is yes they are more knowledgable and more successful.. especially SIRM they really get into causes and treatment.. always changing and learning new things.. Not just the same old thing..

Re: ART for discussion

I really don't know - speaking from my own experience, I think the reason why we were successful on our first try was because of my RE's skill level and expertise. She has a very small practice, and really individualizes the protocol for each patient. I had seen her for over a year, and went through 6 IUI's with extensive monitoring. We also went through, I believe, 3 or 4 injectable cycles, which gave her a very good perspective on my response level and ovary idiosyncracies (i.e. slow responder to start, end with a big bang) and she used that information to perfect an IVF protocol for me that took into consideration my endometriosis issues.

In the end she did what she promised - obtained enough eggs to give us a good chance of success, while at the same time, not overstimulating to the degree where I would get sick or hospitalized.

So, yes, I think part of it is technology, but also, a big part of it, is the skill level, expertise, experience of each RE and the level of attention they give to each patient.

Re: ART for discussion

I think that ART is a combination of science and art . There are many variables outside of a doctor's control (e.g., how your body will respond to meds) but improved research and lab techniques are allowing for higher success with fewer embryos transferred. I did a 5dt of a single embryo and got pg on my first IVF attempt. I don't know if that would have been the case years ago.