There are many options available for those hoping to become parents but struggling with infertility. Our North Houston fertility clinic, with both Kingwood and The Woodlands locations, offers a variety of fertility treatments, two of which are egg freezing and embryo freezing. But is one of these treatments more effective than the other? Here, our fertility specialists discuss whether North Houston IVF with frozen embryos is more effective than North Houston IVF with eggs. 

Embryo and Egg Freezing At Our North Houston Fertility Clinic

Freezing your eggs or embryos at our North Houston IVF clinic allows you to postpone the IVF cycle for a time that works best for you. The process begins with hormonal injections to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs at ovulation. Then, our North Houston fertility specialists retrieve your eggs during a minor surgical procedure. 

Should you choose to freeze your eggs, we will dehydrate them first in order to prevent ice crystals from forming and preserve them for future use. Embryo freezing, however, involves fertilizing your eggs with sperm at our Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF clinic immediately following retrieval in order for an embryo to develop. Once this occurs, we’ll freeze the embryos for you to use at a later date.

Which Method Is More Effective?

North Houston IVF with frozen embryos is slightly more effective than eggs. This is also true for the success rate of IVF with frozen embryos over fresh embryos. That said, egg freezing does offer a bit more flexibility and can be more desirable for single women who have not met the right partner. 

What Are the Limitations of Embryo Freezing? 

Sometimes embryo freezing at our North Houston IVF clinic may not be the most suitable choice for you. Whether you have a partner or choose a sperm donor, you must have your preferred sperm source available before embryo freezing because the egg must be fertilized immediately upon retrieval. Also, consider that sometimes frozen embryos must be discarded, which may go against your moral, spiritual, or religious beliefs. 

Discuss Your Options with Our Kingwood and The Woodlands Fertility Clinic Specialists

The most effective way to determine which method may be best for your IVF journey is to schedule a consultation at one of our North Houston IVF clinics. We recognize that your choice is highly personal and we will guide you to make the best decision for your needs and your life. Infertility can be difficult, but you don’t need to face it alone. Let our North Houston fertility specialists help by providing you the compassionate, informed care you deserve.

The sorrow that accompanies a negative pregnancy test after trying to get pregnant is almost impossible to put into words. This is even more profound when it occurs after completing a North Houston IVF cycle. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be the case, especially if there are underlying issues that could be preventing hopeful parents from getting pregnant. Thankfully, our Kingwood fertility clinic and The Woodlands fertility clinic both offer fertility testing, which is intended to identify potential barriers to a successful pregnancy and find ways to address them so that you can grow your family. 

Fertility Testing Available at Our North Houston IVF Clinic

Whether you’re just beginning your fertility journey or you’ve already experienced an unsuccessful IVF cycle, our North Houston fertility clinic encourages you to gain a better understanding of you and/or your partner’s reproductive health through fertility testing. Fertility testing refers to a range of evaluations that are intended to identify possible causes of infertility. Before deciding which tests might yield the right information for your specific circumstance, our North Houston fertility specialist will consult with you and your partner to gain a better understanding of your medical history and reproductive history. After this consultation, one or more of these fertility testing procedures may be recommended:

Fertility Testing for Women

• Ovulation testing: this tracks your ovulation cycle and hormone levels at different points throughout
• Ovarian reserve testing: this test helps to determine how many eggs are available for ovulation, as women produce fewer eggs as they age.
• Imaging tests: these may include ultrasound, sonogram, or x ray imaging to examine the condition and structure of the uterus and fallopian tubes

Fertility Testing for Men

• Semen analysis: this allows our North Houston fertility specialist to evaluate the quantity and motility of sperm in a given sample.
• Hormone evaluation: this tests for testosterone and other hormone imbalances that may interfere with healthy sperm production.
• Imaging tests: these tests may use ultrasound or vasography imaging to evaluate the condition and structure of the scrotum and vas deferens.

North Houston IVF After Fertility Testing

Once you and/or your partner have undergone fertility testing and either our Kingwood fertility clinic or The Woodlands fertility clinic, our IVF doctor will offer recommendations for your next steps. The results of your fertility testing may reveal the need to make other interventions during the North Houston IVF process in order to increase your chances at a successful pregnancy. These may include the use of donor eggs or donor sperm, a third-party gestational carrier, certain medications, or surgery. Our North Houston fertility specialists can guide you through your options and explain them clearly and compassionately. 

Trust HART Fertility During Your North Houston IVF Journey

Fertility testing and treatment is a highly personal process that requires patience, compassion, and access to experts in reproductive medicine. At our Kingwood IVF clinic and The Woodlands IVF clinic, we strive to cultivate relationships with our patients, ensuring a warm and caring environment. We would be honored to be a part of your North Houston IVF journey, which can begin by scheduling an appointment to meet with our fertility specialists and determining the right path for you and your reproductive goals.

If you’ve been trying to get pregnant for months or longer without success, you’re probably wondering what you can do to increase your chances of seeing that coveted positive pregnancy test. Our North Houston fertility specialists have helped countless patients understand what’s been causing their fertility challenges and how to address them. For those anxious for answers, the first step is identifying the signs of infertility in both men and women. The sooner you can identify potential infertility at our Kingwood fertility clinic or The Woodlands fertility clinic, the sooner you can find the right treatment for you.

What is Infertility?

According to our North Houston fertility doctor, infertility is the inability to get pregnant after having unprotected sex for a year or more. Infertility could stem from issues with one partner or both, so your greatest chance for a successful pregnancy begins with identifying what could be causing your struggles in the first place. These are the most common causes of infertility for men and women, respectively, as seen by our North Houston fertility clinic doctors:

Causes of Male Infertility:

• Low sperm production
• Exposure to environmental toxins
• Issues in sperm delivery

Causes of Female Infertility:

• Ovulation problems
• Fallopian tube damage
• Uterine abnormalities
• Advanced maternal age
• Damage caused by disease, like cancer

Signs of Infertility Seen at Our North Houston IVF Clinic

Because fertility problems can affect both men and women, the signs are unique to each sex and manifest in different ways, depending upon the cause. For women, the most common symptoms are irregular, abnormal periods, or absent periods. If your infertility is the result of a hormonal imbalance, you may experience changes in your sex drive, changes in your skin (such as skin darkening and/or increased acne), and weight gain. If you are noticing these issues while struggling to get pregnant, it’s time to schedule an appointment with our North Houston fertility specialists to determine the next steps you can take.

For men, infertility signs include problems getting and maintaining an erection, pain in the testicles, weight gain, and hair loss. These signs, however, could indicate many other conditions, which is why a visit to our Kingwood IVF clinic or The Woodlands IVF clinic is such an important step for you and your reproductive goals.

North Houston IVF at Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic or The Woodlands Fertility Clinic

Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF are common treatments for our North Houston fertility clinic patients struggling to get pregnant on their own. North Houston IVF (which stands for In Vitro fertilization) allows a woman’s egg to be introduced to the man’s sperm outside the body in a controlled environment, which improves the chances for fertilization. If fertilization occurs, the embryo(s) will be placed inside the woman’s uterus, where they will ideally implant and lead to a successful pregnancy. If necessary, our North Houston fertility specialist can help you secure donor eggs or donor sperm to increase your chances of getting pregnant.

Make Our North Houston Fertility Clinic a Part of Your Reproductive Journey

We know infertility can be devastating for hopeful parents anxious to grow their families, which is why we are honored to provide empathetic and expert care for every patient who visits our Kingwood fertility clinic and The Woodlands fertility clinic. If you’re seeing the signs of infertility outlined in this article and believe you may benefit from North Houston IVF or other fertility treatments, schedule an appointment with our team as soon as possible. 

Our North Houston fertility clinic has many treatment options available for hopeful parents, one of which involves using donor eggs as a part of their North Houston IVF treatment journey. But how does this process work, and is it a viable option for your reproductive goals? Our North Houston fertility specialists are here to help you answer these questions and prepare you for what to expect during IVF with donor eggs.

What is North Houston IVF?

The Woodlands IVF or Kingwood IVF, which is short for In Vitro Fertilization, is the process of retrieving eggs from a woman’s ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm outside of the woman’s body. The fertilized egg or eggs are then inserted into the uterus, where they will hopefully implant in the uterine lining and develop into a successful pregnancy. If our North Houston fertility specialist has shared that North Houston IVF using your eggs is unlikely to result in a successful pregnancy, then you may want to consider IVF with donor eggs instead.

What Is North Houston IVF With Donor Eggs? 

There are a few reasons our Kingwood fertility specialist or The Woodlands fertility specialist may recommend North Houston IVF with donor eggs, such as:

• Age-Related Diminished Ovarian Reserve: as you get older, your egg count and egg quality can diminish, leading many to choose to receive donor eggs.
• Premature Ovarian Failure: If you are young, but your eggs count is low, it could be due to a number of environmental factors, such as chemotherapy, radiation treatments, autoimmune disorders, and genetic factors.
• Genetic Mutations: Multiple miscarriages are often discovered to be the result of genetic anomalies that prevent a viable pregnancy, often requiring the use of donor eggs.

Locating a Suitable Egg Donor for Your North Houston IVF Treatment

Many times, hopeful parents choose a trusted friend or family member to serve as an egg donor for their Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF treatment. But if you need help finding suitable donor eggs, our North Houston fertility specialist can put you in touch with an egg donor agency or egg bank. An egg donor agency connects healthy egg donors with intending parents, often helping couples find donors who match specific genetic traits. The donor and the parent will usually undergo the IVF process at the same time so that their menstrual periods line up.Or, if you’d prefer to select frozen donor eggs, an egg bank may be the place to start. Just like at an agency, an egg bank may be able to match intending parents with certain characteristics they might be looking for. 

North Houston IVF With Donor Eggs Process

Once a suitable egg donor has been located, you'll begin the IVF process. This means the collecting the eggs from your donor's ovaries and introducing them to sperm in our lab. If your donor eggs came from an egg bank, in which they were frozen, we'll first thaw the eggs in order to prepare them for fertilization. We will then introduce the sperm to fertilize the egg and allow the embryo to reach the blastocyst stage. The fertility specialists at our Kingwood fertility clinic or The Woodlands fertility clinic will then conduct genetic testing called Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT). This is done through a simple biopsy on the embryo in order to determine if your embryo has a high chance of leading to a successful birth. If we determine the embryo is genetically healthy, then we will prepare your uterus for pregnancy by giving you hormonal medications designed to encourage your body to go through the same hormonal changes it would with a traditional pregnancy. Once ideal hormone levels have been reached, the embryo will be transferred to your uterus with the help of an abdominal ultrasound. This painless procedure will take place in one of our North Houston fertility clinic locations.

HART Fertility Can Guide Your North Houston IVF with Donor Eggs Journey

We know that your path to parenthood may not be as simple as you intended, but there is still hope thanks to our team of knowledgeable and compassionate North Houston fertility specialists and individualized treatment options. Call us today to discuss your reproductive goals and see how we can help.