{"id":75099,"date":"2017-06-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/2017\/06\/24\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure"},"modified":"2023-11-08T21:22:33","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T21:22:33","slug":"5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572","title":{"rendered":"5 Things Your Embryologist Wants You To Know About Your IVF Procedure"},"content":{"rendered":"

As couples navigate through their fertility journey, some arrive at the diagnosis of infertility and need to attempt pregnancy using in vitro fertilization (IVF). (See a step-by-step intro to IVF<\/a>.) This generally starts with meeting with their physician and beginning the first steps of the process, including preparation, stimulation<\/a>, and monitoring with their clinicians and nurses.<\/p>\n

In the background is the functioning of the IVF laboratory, where what is occurring can be a bit of a mystery to most, especially early in the process.<\/p>\n

The scientist who combines the sperm and egg and helps the resulting embryos to grow in a controlled environment is called an embryologist. Access to the laboratory or embryologists in most clinics is limited. It is often not until a failed attempt or cycle that a patient receives embryology observations, but the information is often communicated or presented by the clinician.<\/p>\n

This is often because although embryology insights can be very diagnostic, they are best interpreted by a clinician as they are best educated to correlate those insights with specific patient demographics.<\/p>\n

So even if we are behind the scenes, embryologists are still a large part of your IVF journey. Remember that each patient\/partner combination is so <\/em>different, but here are a few insights from an embryologist’s perspective that every patient should know before they arrive at a fertility clinic.<\/p>\n

Read: <\/strong>Embryo Freezing and Thawing: What You Need to Know<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

1. Every Embryo is Different<\/h2>\n

Every egg, sperm, and the resulting combination of the two are different. That makes every attempt at IVF using different gametes a different experience. When the average infertility patient comes into the clinic, they might imagine a grocery store where they open a container of a dozen eggs, and each one looks perfect or the same. This is not the case with human eggs.<\/p>\n

From the embryologist\u2019s eyes, each egg looks different, but we can\u2019t see the DNA with a microscope to select the \u201cgood\u201d eggs. Each egg is aspirated from a different follicle. Vaginal ultrasounds can predict or indicate how many follicles are growing and what the measuring sizes are each day when medications are delivered<\/a> into the body at standardized doses.<\/p>\n

Understand that all the follicles vary in size during the process, and some can measure 14mm while others might be 19mm. The follicular measurements can correlate to healthy follicular environments, chemical communication, and egg health in a way that we still do not fully understand.<\/p>\n

There is a range of ideal follicular sizes, but that ideal is different for each human (just like body temperature). Not every egg is meant to make a baby, just like not every sperm will fertilize an egg. If you factor in the same variables, you can see that every embryo is very different<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why some eggs do not fertilize, some embryos do not grow or turn into blastulae<\/a>, and why some don’t freeze well or survive the thaw<\/a> are just indicators that there is probably something flawed about them we don\u2019t understand yet.<\/p>\n

2. Embryologists Can’t Repair Eggs<\/h2>\n

Women are born with all of the eggs<\/a> they will have throughout their life. Embryologists will care for and nurture your gametes but cannot repair or make an embryo better by culturing it in the laboratory. Eggs are made when the female is in utero, around 18-20 weeks gestation. Therefore, eggs are the same age as the woman\u2019s biological age.<\/p>\n

The notion that you could drink juice and make your eggs \u201cbetter\u201d is a falsehood. There is evidence that the follicular environment and the health of the gamete provider during the stimulation process can affect an outcome.<\/p>\n

In addition, having a normal body mass index (BMI)<\/a>, not smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, and avoiding narcotics have proven beneficial to the success of IVF.<\/p>\n

Read: <\/strong>From Eggs to Blastocyst: Understanding IVF Attrition<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On the other hand, most men make sperm daily and, on average, are only 3 months old. Their daily health and choices can affect ejaculate 60 to 90 days later. Having your clinician tune up you and your partner\u2019s health a few months before your attempt might give you and your partner time to get your emotional, physical, and financial health to optimize your attempt.<\/p>\n

Watch out for gimmicks on the internet or advice about how supplements or lifestyle changes can improve your fertility, and save those questions for your medical provider. We want what is best for you and do not want you to compromise your success because of some bad advice from an internet forum.<\/p>\n

3. Everyone\u2019s IVF Journey and Outcome Are Different<\/h2>\n

In this process, it is not uncommon to seek comfort and support by reaching out and comparing yourself to others. It can feel reassuring when a person\u2019s story is similar to your own and ends with family expansion.<\/p>\n

It is important to keep in mind that everyone’s IVF journey and outcomes are different. Because of this, contrasting and comparing your experience to the experiences of others may not truly be as beneficial as it may seem on the surface. Undergoing IVF is emotional and painful. This is why I encourage patients to reach out to professionals, including fertility coaches or counselors if they find the stress overwhelming or their relationship challenged. Ultimately, choosing someone you trust to confide in is the key.<\/p>\n

There are many ways to start or expand a family. The decision to change paths can be affected by physical, emotional, financial, religious, and familial factors. The decision to change paths can be extremely challenging and can trigger a grief process.<\/p>\n

Some examples of changes that might trigger emotional distress include moving on to donor eggs<\/a>, sperm, or embryos<\/a>, choosing adoption instead of having a biological child, or deciding to be a child-free couple or person<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Choices like these are decisions that are processed differently for every person. You and your partner may be affected or process these changes differently, but try to remember their path and place are just as valid as yours.<\/p>\n

Read: 5 Emotions You May Experience Before Your First Donor Egg Cycle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

4. There Are No Magic Numbers That Will Guarantee Success<\/h2>\n

As clinicians, we get many calls from patients upset that they did not have the same outcome as another patient or what they expected. This can stem from semen analysis results to the number of eggs retrieved during an IVF cycle or egg aspiration. You are you. Your clinician will give you indicators if your result is unexpected or clinically significant.<\/p>\n

The internet and online forums<\/a> are filled with reports on the number of eggs retrieved, embryos created<\/a>, and embryo grading scores. Keep in mind that there are no magic numbers that indicate success. Embryo culture is a process designed for an embryologist to gather information about each embryo\u2019s growth pattern and quality to effectively evaluate embryos for implantation potential.<\/p>\n

We pick the best you<\/em> have. There are no indicators that can guarantee 100% success. I have seen patients who have beautiful grade A embryos did not get pregnant, and embryos that were grade C make beautiful twins.<\/p>\n

Every clinic has a different system that’s used to grade embryos in their clinic. Asking the clinic to explain their grading system to you will help your understanding and allow you to speak the same technical language level. (Get started by reading An Intro to Embryo and Blastocyst Grading<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The embryo grading system was created to predict implantation potential and create a system to designate embryos in a group or cohort.<\/p>\n

That being said, if you only produce grade C embryos and experience failure in your first attempt, that information might guide your clinician to suggest that your physical, emotional, or financial investment in another attempt may be better invested in donor gametes or an alternative path for family expansion.<\/p>\n

Read: <\/strong>Assisted Hatching for IVF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

5. Your Embryologist Wants The Best for You<\/h2>\n

There is no magic pill, juice, or protocol that we didn’t tell you about. If we had something we thought would make the process successful, we would have told you in the beginning.<\/p>\n

As we gather information about your journey and your partner\u2019s responses, we may alter your clinical treatment, but we are always doing our best with the information we have.<\/p>\n

Embryologists are very collaborative scientists. We are unique in the fact that most of us share our trade secrets via publications and meetings. This field is growing and expanding, and we are developing new insights at a rapid pace.<\/p>\n

I enjoy working in a field where we share our successes and failures because we know that you, the patient, might benefit. We may be a bunch of \u201clab geeks,\u201d but we are inspired to help build families, and that is why we choose to work in this field.<\/p>\n

What happens in the IVF lab is technical<\/a> and, in some ways, mysterious because there is no true recipe for success. Know that your IVF journey is unique. While it is always good to be informed, don’t mistake contrasting and comparing your experience against the experiences of others as reliable information.<\/p>\n

The goal of IVF is one healthy baby, and your embryologist is part of the team trying to make this happen.<\/p>\n

\"Pinterest<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As couples navigate through their fertility journey, some arrive at the diagnosis of infertility and need to attempt pregnancy using in vitro fertilization (IVF). (See a step-by-step intro to IVF.) This generally starts with meeting with their physician and beginning the first steps of the process, including preparation, stimulation, and monitoring with their clinicians and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11847,"featured_media":75588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"topic":[2917,2951,2966],"pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Things Your Embryologist Wants You To Know About Your IVF Procedure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here are 5 things to know about your IVF journey from an embryologist's perspective.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Things Your Embryologist Wants You To Know About Your IVF Procedure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are 5 things to know about your IVF journey from an embryologist's perspective.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FertilitySmarts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-24T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-08T21:22:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/human-people-person-microscope-weapon-doctor-surgeon-robot.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ashley Wong, MS, Clinical Embryologist\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Here are 5 things to know about your IVF journey from an embryologist's perspective.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/human-people-person-microscope-weapon-doctor-surgeon-robot.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ashley Wong, MS, Clinical Embryologist\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Things Your Embryologist Wants You To Know About Your IVF Procedure","description":"Here are 5 things to know about your IVF journey from an embryologist's perspective.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Things Your Embryologist Wants You To Know About Your IVF Procedure","og_description":"Here are 5 things to know about your IVF journey from an embryologist's perspective.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572","og_site_name":"FertilitySmarts","article_published_time":"2017-06-24T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-08T21:22:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/human-people-person-microscope-weapon-doctor-surgeon-robot.jpg"}],"author":"Ashley Wong, MS, Clinical Embryologist","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_description":"Here are 5 things to know about your IVF journey from an embryologist's perspective.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/human-people-person-microscope-weapon-doctor-surgeon-robot.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ashley Wong, MS, Clinical Embryologist","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572","url":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572","name":"5 Things Your Embryologist Wants You To Know About Your IVF Procedure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-24T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-08T21:22:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/474e3b14f1334e7ce020fed0d9013748"},"description":"Here are 5 things to know about your IVF journey from an embryologist's perspective.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/5-things-your-embryologist-wants-you-to-know-about-your-ivf-procedure\/2\/1572#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Things Your Embryologist Wants You To Know About Your IVF Procedure"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/","name":"FertilitySmarts","description":"Get Smart About Your Fertility","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/474e3b14f1334e7ce020fed0d9013748","name":"Ashley Wong, MS, Clinical Embryologist","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f971dc86d1d6641973f15d10d094fe48?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f971dc86d1d6641973f15d10d094fe48?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ashley Wong, MS, Clinical Embryologist"},"url":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/contributors\/ashley-wong-ms-clinical-embryologist"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11847"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75099"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77092,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75099\/revisions\/77092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75099"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=75099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}