IVF questions

[beansbeans!]

Hi all,
I was wondering if you would be so kind as to answer a few questions I have about IVF.

When IVF is successful, is it normal to have u/sounds every month?
Does your due date change from when the embryo was insterted to what the baby measurements are during pregnancy?
Also is the risk of having a prem baby higher with each subsequent pregnancy?

Thank you

[RhiChiChi]

Hi beansbeans,

This is my experience of my successful cycle. I can't comment for anyone else and I am unsure whether or not the reason you are doing IVF would come into play how many scans etc....

- I had an u/s at week 7 to confirm a heartbeat then was referred back to my OBS for my pg. I had a scan at 12 weeks, then another at 20 weeks. I am having one at 34 weeks but that is b/c I have an anterior/low lying placenta. Pretty much all the scans bar the 7 week one are 'routine' when seeing my OBS

- My due date HAS NOT changed at all during my pg. My OBS said that given they know exactly the date of t'fer they do not amend it at all. So I didn't have a 'dating' scan per se. I will admit though that I am measuring 'spot on' for my EDD....

- I can't answer your last question & I can't direct you where to find the answer. I would assume given my chats to friends who have had premmie babies that they are treated as a 'higher risk'. My gf had a 28 week premmie (IVF) and for her subsequent pg (natural) was referred straight to Monash Clayton. Although she admits that they weren't too worried, didn't do any extra monitoring etc.... She was also in the care of an OBS and was eventually referred to Dandenong Maternity as all was progressing well. She ended up going to 39 weeks.

[Andie78]

im not sure im going to much help here, as i havent had a super successful time with ivf yet... but:

i have been told that once you are successful with ivf, it is the same as any other pregnancy, you are not deemed high risk etc. just bc of ivf. generally you will have a couple of early scans (somewhere in between the 6-8 week mark), to check for viability and make sure everything is progressing 'normally'. i havent been past this point, so cant comment on further scans, but im fairly sure you are released to an OB around this time (maybe even 9 weeks? someone who has actually been this far can correct me, please!). monthly scans might be performed if there were concerns with the viability scans.
i have not heard that you are at risk of prem baby/babies with ivf or subsequent pregnancies after ivf.

hopefully some of the other ladies with more experience post-ivf can pop in and give you some info.

[Maruschke]

Hi all,
I was wondering if you would be so kind as to answer a few questions I have about IVF.

When IVF is successful, is it normal to have u/sounds every month?
Does your due date change from when the embryo was insterted to what the baby measurements are during pregnancy?
Also is the risk of having a prem baby higher with each subsequent pregnancy?

Thank you

It isn't normal to have scans every month just because you conceived via IVF. That said, many IVF mum's are with private Obs who scan them every appointment (FS often continues as an Obs). I had a scan at 6 weeks, then all the normal scans any other pregnant woman would usually get. IVF mums are at a slightly increased risk of ectopic so the first early scan is important.

My due date never changed, the early scan was about checking the baby was the right size (and placement) for dates, rather than assessing dates.

Slightly more IVF mums have premmies than the baseline rate, and if you have had a premmie previously, the odds of having another are also slightly increased.

But for the most part, once an IVF woman gets that illusive BFP, she is just like any other pregnant woman (biologically... obviously once you've been through IVF you are forever changed).

Hope that helps.

[beansbeans!]

Thanks ladies

All your answers have helped so much.
The IVF journey is something that I dont really understand yet want to. I know every journey is different, so not all answers are the same but thank you so much

edit: would I be able to possibly be able to ask one more question? Just wondering whether an IVF baby has a higher risk of disability, because of IVF solely? (Im assuming the answer is no, but U wasnt so sure)

[juniper76]

Hi,

- As per the ladies above, I had the scans I would normally have with my (private) OB. The only extra ones were at 7 and 10wks with my FS. However, if I hadn't had a 10wk scan with my FS I would have had one with the OB instead, so it was only the 7wk scan that was extra.

- I always stuck to the due date based on EPU day. We knew exactly when the egg was fertilised, so we knew exactly how old the embryo was. She measured spot on at 7wks, but measured ahead after that.

- Sorry, can't help with premmies.

- The IVF process itself has not been shown to cause any disabilities. Any higher rate of incidence is more likely due to the fact that the population of IVF parents contains a higher percentage of problems than the general population of parents. That's often why they're getting IVF in the first place. You see all these doomsayers saying the IVF causes birth defects and the like, but it's nothing but scaremongering because they either don't understand or simply object to IVF.

[onthefly]

No, there's no evidence that IVF itself is associated with higher risks to baby or pregnancy. However, often the underlying causes of the infertility are, and so there may be correlation between IVF and higher risk pregnancies.

My due date was altered with an early dating scan with both pregnancies. I was happy with this as it gave me an extra 3-6 days as I measured 'behind'. (Very handy if you're a 42-weeker). Personally, I reckon there are so many variables in regards to gestation etc, that I would just go with whichever date suits me best.

If you go with a private OB, then you may well have scans that often. We were with DS and after a few checkups asked him to stop all the scans as they were an unnecessary risk.

With regards to prem risk - I don't know of any research on this? I suppose if the mother is older (as many IVF mums are) and she is getting older with each subsequent baby, then that prem risk may well increase. Again, not related to the IVF.

[RhiChiChi]

In relation to the disability question - I was not informed of this as a risk when doing IVF. In fact I'd say it could be the opposite or have no affect due to the egg & sperm being of the best possible quality. eg: The clinic selects the best egg and they clean and do all sorts of things to the males sperm to ensure it is of high quality. HTH

[RhiChiChi]

FYI - Certain IVF clinics run free information sessions to the public which may interest you. I just googled Monash IVF and they have quite a few coming up around Victoria.

[beansbeans!]

Thank you again.

I think Im starting to understand a but more about a pregnancy from IVF (if that makes sense?). So really on average there isnt too many more, if any, risk factors in a pregnancy resulting from IVF compared to non-ivf pregnancy.
Thank you

RhiChiChi, thank you I will have a look into that and see if there are any information sessions I could go to.

Thank you all very much,

[onthefly]

There is no evidence that there are risks associated with pregnancies resulting from IVF, no. There is a correlation between IVF and risks etc, but no proof this is due to the IVF itself.

[Maruschke]

There is no evidence that there are risks associated with pregnancies resulting from IVF, no. There is a correlation between IVF and risks etc, but no proof this is due to the IVF itself.

Yep don't let anyone tell you, or anyone else, that you are high risk purely because of IVF. They MUST look at why you needed IVF first.

[LizLemon]

In relation to the disability question, our clinic actually told us at the start (and said that they had to inform us) that IVF increased the risk of birth defects from approx 2% to 4%. However they stressed that even things like cleft lips etc were considered "birth defects" for the purpose of the figures. Some things are due to the fact that science is circumventing the natural selection process, others possibly due to the actual IVF (and moreso ICSI) process. I have read that they think that certain cancers (retinoblastoma for example) and some genetic diseases are more prevalent among IVF children.

Having said this, I have found just as many studies/reports say that there is no increased link between IVF and birth defects as I have saying that there is. I think noone really knows at this point, and it is fair to say that in many cases people accessing IVF are either older, which may compromise egg and sperm quality, or may have health problems that cause the fertility issues. (Although some studies I have found that have found increased birth defects among IVF children have already adjusted for maternal age).

I would like to see better studies conducted in Australia following the health of IVF children. Both mine are IVF, and they could have two heads for all anyone at the clinic or in the reproductive technology field would know. So far they are perfect but it is a constant worry to me that something will manifest itself in the future due to the way in which they were conceived.

Bearing all this in mind, even 4% birth defect risk is still pretty low. And as MadB said, it all amounts at this point to a correlation, not proof, although whether that gives much comfort or not is up to the individual. For me it didn't

[onthefly]

I would wonder whether they've corrected for things like sperm abnormalities and age of the woman....?

[LizLemon]

Yeah as I mentioned some had adjusted for maternal age but you're right sperm quality would also play a part. Although you wonder if just because a sperm has poor motility or something if it could cause birth defects, beyond the child having sperm issues. A lot of the studies I read talked about the possibility of the process itself causing mutations. I dunno could all be scaremongering and butt-covering.

[onthefly]

It sounds like a plausible theory to me, I'm just not aware of any actual evidence I would be interested to hear if there is.

[beansbeans!]

Thanks ladies.

You have all helped so much. You have helped me work through a few preconceived impressions about IVF, not my own, but some I have heard.

Thank you