Why are women advised egg donation earlier in the US than in Europe? I often get emails from women around the world asking me when I think is the right point to enter an egg donation program. One would think that there should be a clear consensus on this in the medical community, right? Not…
Why antral follicle count is a number you need to know Antral follicle count is a reliable readout of how active your ovaries are. Together with AMH and FSH, antral follicle counts adds a precious information to what exactly the time is on your personal biological clock and how many eggs you have left. You can then build…
Blond hair, blue eyes? A fertility doctor explains what couples look for in an egg donor Deciding to pursue egg donation is a very difficult decision to make. It can take years, and even then, after it happens, partners may not feel the same way about egg donation. What often surprises during counselling sessions with…
What REALLY happens when egg fuses with sperm cell Honestly, I never really wondered what exactly happens in a moment when egg and sperm unite. I assumed, science would know all about it; for such an important event one would expect tons of literature describing every millisecond of it, right? Or at least a handful of studies…
Five over-35-fertility-news items I thought you may like to hear about Sometimes I love to tell long stories and take a lot of time to research one single topic. Some other times I come across smaller news items related to getting pregnant after 35 which are not big or interesting enough to develop into articles,…
Why communication with fertility doctors sometimes fails? Almost daily I get emails from women who report some kind of miscommunication with their fertility doctors. Some of the most common misunderstandings seem to be: Not understanding when to move to the next level (trying naturally – IUI – IVF/ICSI) Too short or too long times in-between…
New IVF treatment: 2015 brings the first AUGMENT-baby I had to sit down as I read this: According to Allied Market Research, the IVF market is supposed to grow from $9.3 billion in 2012 to $21.6 billion in 2020. Can you imagine so many billions? The report is based on the calculations of the average IVF cost being over $10,000, which…
First baby born from rejuvenized eggs in Toronto Still don’t know who Zain Rajani is? The little baby is already a historical figure and has a good chance to come into the textbooks quite soon. Why? He’s the world’s first baby born following an innovative procedure being hailed as a game-changer in the treatment of infertility. The…
Three-parent babies simply explained Long time ago when I was still a biology student, no one was interested in mitochondria, or thought they had anything to do with creating healthy eggs and babies. Twenty years fast forward and I have to explain mitochondria in every second blog post. What mitochondria have to do with three-parent babies The…
A few possible downsides of reproductive technologies? Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART), better known as in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), involve manipulation of several steps of conception, from the stimulation of gamete production to the culture of embryos in the laboratory. A whole lot of manipulation as the matter of fact. These manipulations include: the…