Deciding to consult a fertility specialist is an important milestone on your path to parenthood. Although everyone’s experience is unique, patients find it helpful to know what to expect during their initial fertility consultation and how to better prepare for the upcoming IVF journey. Your first consultation is a great opportunity to meet the medical team and get answers to your questions. Here is what you should expect on your first visit to euroCARE IVF.
What Happens at a Fertility Consultation
The initial consultation can take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Our euroCARE fertility specialist will review your medical history and will discuss available IVF treatment options. Based on your medical and reproductive history as well as age, the doctor will order diagnostic tests to evaluate your and your partner’s level of fertility.
The aim of fertility testing is to evaluate the most important aspects of your fertility including eggs, sperm, reproductive system, as well as hormone levels of one or both partners. The results of these tests will help our doctor to determine a suitable treatment plan that will provide you with the best chance of achieving a successful pregnancy.
Fertility Consultation Questions
The initial consultation is an important opportunity to get answers to your questions and address your concerns. This is a list of questions you can ask during your initial consultation:
- Fertility assessment:
What are the common tests used to diagnose infertility? How much do they cost? How long will it take to diagnose our fertility problems?
- Fertility treatment:
What are my treatment options? What are my prospects of becoming pregnant through IVF? What are the clinic’s success rates? What are the advantages and risks of these treatments? Will IVF work for me the first time or multiple cycles are required in my case?
- About the clinic:
Where will the testing/procedures take place? What are the pregnancy and live-birth success rates for my age group? How is communication handled at the clinic? What are the office hours and what number should I call in an emergency case?
Fertility Assessment
Multiple tests are arranged prior to the start of your IVF treatment. Fertility testing is a regular part of every fertility treatment at our clinic because it allows our team to determine the best treatment plan for you and your partner. At your first consultation, these tests are used to diagnose your fertility issues and determine if future tests are needed.
Common tests for the female partner:
- Ultrasound to assess uterus and ovaries
- Infectious disease testing (HIV and Hepatitis B and C)
- Blood tests to measure:
- AMH (antimullerian hormone)
- TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone)
- PRL (prolactin)
Fertility tests for the male partner:
- Infectious disease testing (HIV and Hepatitis B and C)
- Sperm analysis to assess sperm count, motility and shape.
What is in vitro fertilization (IVF)
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a medical treatment designed to treat a variety of fertility issues in both men and women. IVF provides a controlled environment that significantly enhances fertilization and conception. IVF fertilizes the egg with the sperm in vitro (in the glass) in a specialized laboratory. Once the egg is fertilized, it is placed in a culture solution that provides nutrients to support its development and growth. Our team of embryologists carefully examines the quality of each embryo during the grading cycle to determine which one(s) has the best chance for implantation and successful pregnancy. Only high-quality embryos are selected for the transfer or for cryopreservation (embryo freezing).
Advantages of IVF
If you are considering IVF, it is normal to have questions regarding the advantages of this popular fertility treatment. Individuals and couples can benefit from IVF in many different ways including:
- Significantly high pregnancy rates.
- Possibility of freezing extra high-quality embryos for subsequent use in future IVF cycles.
- Successful treatment of a wide range of infertility issues in both women and men.
- Less invasive and generally safe.
- Possibility of conceiving a healthy child in situations where one or both parents carry a genetic disease.
What Fertility Issues Do We Treat
Female Infertility:
- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). The condition is caused by a hormonal imbalance that can cause small cysts to form in the ovaries. It also causes irregular or absent periods for a few months.
- Ovulation problems. Irregular ovulation can be caused by hormonal imbalance or premature ovarian function (premature menopause)
- Endometriosis. This is a condition in which the tissue of the uterine lining starts to grow in other areas of the body, causing abdominal pain, inflammation, and the development of scar tissue or cysts in the ovaries.
- Blocked fallopian tubes. Tubal infections such as gonorrhea and chlamydia can cause scarring of the fallopian tubes which ultimately leads to infertility.
Male infertility:
- Varicoceles. Varicoceles are swollen veins in the scrotum that block the blood flow and obstruct sperm growth.
- Ejaculation problems. Ejaculation problems occur when the man is not able to ejaculate semen during intercourse.
- Sperm production problems. These can happen when a man is not able to produce viable sperm at all or sperm is produced in insufficient quantity.
- Blockage. Blockages may be a result of repeated infections, vasectomy, or developmental defects of the reproductive organs.
- Autoimmune disease. Sometimes the male body can produce antibodies that will attack the man’s own sperm.
Both partners:
- Unknown causes. When both partners get normal test results and there is no obvious cause for their inability to conceive this is referred to as unexplained infertility.
- Genetic conditions. If you or your partner carry or have a family history of a genetic mutation that can be passed onto the offspring, then PGD or PGS may be advised.
- Cancer and cancer treatment. Cancer treatment such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy can damage the eggs and the reproductive organs of both women and men leading to permanent or temporary infertility.
Treatment Plan
You may need to attend a follow-up appointment with our fertility specialist to discuss the test results and discuss the details of your personalized treatment plan. You will also discuss the chances of pregnancy with recommended fertility treatments. Your prospects of getting pregnant through IVF will depend on:
- Your age
- Your partner’s age
- What is the cause of your infertility
- Any other medical condition that can limit your ability to have children, and
- Any previous treatment for infertility you have had in the past.
How to Prepare for the Initial Consultation
Every piece of background information that you can supply is important. Your initial consultation with our fertility specialist will allow him to gather all the relevant information regarding your situation, medical condition and previous treatment to provide the right direction for your future IVF treatment at the euroCARE IVF clinic in North Cyprus.
Documents to bring with you are:
- Medical records
- Previous fertility tests (not older than 6 months)
- Records of any previous fertility treatment
- A list of questions for the doctor
Consultation Tips
Generally, it’s a good idea to have your questions written down before you have your first consultation. Our fertility team will be asking you a lot of questions, and it is equally important to ask yours. Having a list of questions at hand will ensure that you don’t forget or miss something. Also, it is a good idea to bring with you a notebook to write down important details.
You can bring your partner to your first visit. This is an opportunity for your partner to be involved in the process. They can provide extra information about your case and will also be able to ask questions of their own, which can help them to better understand the whole treatment process.
Bring your calendar. If you have vacation plans or work obligations, court dates, or anything that cannot be delayed, canceled or rescheduled, it’s best to know this before starting fertility testing and treatment.
What’s Next?
Treatment may begin as soon as the information is sufficient to create an adequate treatment plan. Treatment can start on day two of your menstrual cycle. You will take hormone injections for 10 to 12 days. With the help of these injections, you’ll be able to produce multiple eggs. Routine monitoring is required to follow the response of your ovarian to the fertility drugs.
What are My Chances for IVF Success
There are multiple factors that affect your chances of getting pregnant through IVF and age is one of the most important ones. This is because ovarian reserve (egg supply) diminishes over time as a woman gets older. With this fact in mind, the euroCARE IVF clinic has developed multiple programs specifically tailored to each age group. The good news is that IVF is generally successful and women who cannot use their own eggs are always offered the possibility to use donor eggs in order to achieve a successful pregnancy.
Egg Donation Success Rates
The success rates of our egg donation program range from 80% per cycle for patients under 35 years, to 70% for patients over 40 years. This is our success rates data from all IVF cycles performed at euroCARE IVF in 2018:
Is Fertility Consultation Free
All consultations at our clinic are free of charge. Your first consultation at the euroCARE IVF clinic is dedicated to an extensive review of your medical and fertility history, initial discussion of your treatment options and answers to all your questions. Unlike other fertility clinics, we take the time to conduct a comprehensive assessment and carefully evaluate your fertility treatment options, so we can determine the personalized fertility treatment plan that fits you best.
The aim of the initial consultation is to develop a treatment plan that will give you the best chance of a successful pregnancy. Our ultimate goal is to help you achieve your dream of parenthood and bring home a healthy baby.
Fertility Consultation at euroCARE IVF
Beginning IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatment is a powerful decision, and your first consultation is an exciting moment because it is the first step on your journey to parenthood. Initial consultations allow you to be prepared for every step along the way. We know that it is not always easy to achieve your dream of having a baby, but with the right support and education, you can have more control over the process. Remember, you can contact us any day of the week may you have any further questions. Our multilingual support team is available to provide support during the treatment process so that you always feel informed and empowered as you go along the way. Resources: