This is a guest post by Dr. Jay Mehta, an IVF specialist, and a Fertility Preserving Surgeon is the Director and Founder of Shree IVF Clinic which is the highest-rated fertility clinic in Mumbai. Dr. Jay Mehta is the founder of Pran Endoscopy as well. Pran Endoscopy is a Mobile Endoscopy Unit that is used to perform several successful endoscopy surgeries at many hospitals across Mumbai. Dr. Jay Mehta has completed his MBBS from KEM Hospital, Mumbai, and has completed his post-graduation from Jubilee Mission Hospital, Thrissur.
Endometriosis is a serious condition that is affecting a lot of women. The main and biggest complication of this condition is that it directly affects the fertility of a woman. As a result, a woman cannot conceive naturally because of its complications. Thanks to medical science that has advanced reproductive techniques like IVF (in vitro fertilization), that has helped a lot of women with endometriosis, conceive.
Endometriosis and IVF
In a woman’s body, there is a tissue that lines the uterine cavity from the inside. This tissue or layer is called the endometrium. Now, when this layer or a similar layer grows out of the uterine cavity is considered a medical disorder termed endometriosis.
Endometriosis is a painful medical disorder in which a lining that is found inside the uterus grows out of it. It is abnormal for an endometrium layer to grow out of the uterus. This creates a problem when it is found in the ovaries, bladder, fallopian tubes, or on the walls of the pelvis.
Now, there are many complications caused by endometriosis, but infertility is the most common one. Most of the women with endometriosis can’t conceive naturally. This happens because endometriosis in fallopian tubes causes tubes to stick with each other. This can also cause a blockage or formation of bloody cysts that damages the fallopian tubes. These problems cause infertility because they won’t allow an egg and a sperm to unite and cause fertilization.
Women with this condition who have been trying to conceive for two years now that too with low AMH often take the help of IVF or in vitro fertilization to conceive. With IVF, fertilization takes place in the lab and the doctor will transfer the embryo to the woman’s uterus. This way, the embryo will implant itself and result in a pregnancy. The IVF process for a woman with endometriosis will be a little different from that of a normal woman.
Endometriosis Risk Factor
Endometriosis is a painful condition that comes with some risk factors. It is important to know and understand these risk factors in order to have a clear knowledge of the disorder and to know when to see a doctor. These risk factors are:
- Starting off the menstrual cycle at an early age
- Having menopause at an older age
- Less than 27 days, short menstrual cycles
- Heavy periods that lasts over 7 days
- Low BMI
- High level of estrogen in the body
- Family history of endometriosis
Endometriosis and IVF Embryo Implantation
In the IVF process for women with endometriosis, it’s important to take care of certain things. The IVF process starts with its major step, which is ovulation induction, where doctors try to retrieve as many eggs as possible. Now, if the patient has low AMH, then also there are chances of retrieving a few eggs for the process.
Certain injections are given to the patients in order to increase the production and development of the eggs in the ovaries. Once there is enough production of eggs or oocytes, they are then retrieved by the doctor. Meanwhile, your doctor will ask your partner to collect his semen sample. Once both eggs and sperms are available, they are then fertilized in the lab.
After fertilization, when the embryos are formed, doctors monitor their growth and development for the first three days. Once the embryo reaches the best stage of its development, it is then transferred to the uterus of the female partner. After a few days, follow-up is done and a pregnancy test confirms the pregnancy.
This IVF procedure helps in conceiving if there is any damage in ovaries or fallopian tubes because of endometriosis.
IVF success rates
IVF success rate of women that have endometriosis is lower than that of any other women. This happens because of the fewer embryos available to transfer. The success rate of IVF with endometriosis becomes poor when there is severe endometriosis in any women. The rate of fertilization and embryo implantation will differ according to the severity of endometriosis.
But it is to note that women with endometriosis should not lose their hopes of becoming a mother. The chances of conceiving with endometriosis can be less, but never zero. If you take proper guidance and treatment at a right time, you will see positive results soon.