The Infertility Treatment Cycle
Three cycles of Clomid then done. Is it time for IVF if you want a daughter or a son??? A bad song title? No, a common and potentially misleading situation experienced by patients seeking to grow their family.
This approach suggests to those couples that if they do not do the invasive, expensive in vitro fertilization (IVF), they are not going to have children. While some couples will need in vitro, most will not but are not given options.
Good doctoring is all about achieving the patient’s goals while keeping them informed and participating in the decisions most effectively, efficiently, at the lowest cost while maximizing benefit in a caring supportive manner. No one formula fits all, and that includes the IVF formula. Physicians have different interests and comfort within their specialty. The limited exposure and training in fertility may also impact a level of comfort and experience. It is important to find a physician who demonstrates a genuine interest in fertility. This interest should also include the ability to identify and manage other components that are known to impact fertility, for example, polycystic ovaries and endometriosis. Quoting Vince Lombardi:
“There are only three important things in life - your God, your family, and your work. Show me someone who is not succeeding in work or life, and I will show you someone who is paying attention to lesser things.”
It takes a lot more thinking, applied knowledge, skill, and effort to help someone trying to achieve successful pregnancy than some other aspects of our profession. Providing the couple with an adequate assessment through listening to their history, evaluation with some basic tests and a physical exam can lend itself to a formula best suited for the couple. This formula may or may not include Clomid.
Clomid alone has about a 6 to 7 percent chance of working for a couple who has had fertility challenges. It is an anti-estrogen that makes the brain think there is not enough estrogen around, so the brain makes more of the hormone that stimulates egg development in the ovaries, that being a follicle-stimulating hormone or FSH for short. The problem is, Clomid being the anti-estrogen that it is, thins the uterine lining, and then even if conception happens the egg may not stick.
Clomid may or may not be part of the right formula. The right formula may include Letrozole or injectable medications, both cost-effective alternatives to IVF with great success depending on what is right for you. Many times one fertility medication is not the answer but rather it is a combination of understanding what may be contributing to challenges, managing those challenges, and complimenting the plan with effective fertility treatment while respecting the costs.
Our conviction and efforts to achieve success and carefully guide our patients to their goals will not waver. Let us do the worrying for you through the emotionally charged journey of fertility treatment. We know the way and are happiest taking that journey with you.
Call us at (920) 886-2299 or schedule an appointment to learn more about how we can help.