Our North Houston fertility clinic, which has two locations that provide Kingwood IVF and The Woodlands IVF treatments, offers multiple options for those hoping to become parents. Many of our patients are specifically curious about egg freezing and embryo freezing and want to know how these treatments compare in order to take the right path for their fertility journey.
Egg Freezing At Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic and The Woodlands Fertility Clinic
Women choose to freeze their eggs for a number of reasons, usually to give them more flexibility in their reproductive options and allow them to begin the North Houston IVF process at a time that best suits their plans. Eggs freezing begins with hormonal injections that stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs at ovulation before we retrieve them through a painless procedure known as transvaginal ultrasound-guided needle aspiration. Upon retrieval, we will immediately dehydrate the eggs–which prevents the formation of ice crystals, protecting them from destruction–and freeze them to be used at a later date.
Embryo Freezing At Our North Houston Fertility Clinic
Embryo freezing is similar to egg freezing with one key difference. In egg freezing, eggs are retrieved and then frozen until you are ready to get pregnant in the future. When ready, we’ll fertilize the egg through the North Houston IVF process. In the case of embryo freezing, however, we’ll retrieve the eggs and then immediately fertilize them with sperm at Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF clinic, then freeze them once an embryo develops.
Which Method Is Right for Me?
Choosing between egg and embryo freezing is largely based upon preference. Egg freezing can be beneficial, offering flexibility for the following reasons:
- You can wait to begin North Houston IVF until you meet the right partner
- If you’re a single woman, you can always opt for donor sperm when you’re ready
- If you get pregnant before needing your frozen eggs, you can discard them.
Embryo freezing can be unfavorable due to the following limitations:
- Because the egg must be fertilized immediately following retrieval, your preferred sperm source must be available at that time.
- Discarding embryos can have ethical implications for specific faiths and moral beliefs, making it a difficult or even impossible decision.
Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic and The Woodlands Fertility Clinic Specialists Are Here To Support Your Decision
If you want to discuss which method may be best for you to preserve your fertility, schedule an appointment at one of our North Houston IVF clinics. Regardless of your decision, our IVF doctors can help you understand your options and guide you along your way.
For couples struggling to conceive, waiting to become parents can feel interminable. When our patients arrive for their first appointment at our North Houston fertility clinic, they often want to know exactly how quickly they can get pregnant through Kingwood IVF and The Woodlands IVF procedures. While each woman’s fertility journey is unique, the average North Houston IVF cycle takes around 6-8 weeks, from initial consultation in our North Houston fertility clinic to embryo transfer. After transfer, it can take another 4-6. In order to answer how long the whole process takes, we have provided an overview of the process below:
Before the North Houston IVF Procedure:
This is what you can expect prior to beginning IVF:
Consultation With Your North Houston Fertility Specialist
Your first appointment at our Kingwood IVF clinic or The Woodlands IVF clinic will be a discussion between you and the doctor regarding your medical and reproductive history, as well as your hope for North Houston IVF. This is also a good time to determine if you plan to freeze your embryos, if you plan to receive genetic testing, and whether or not you would be open to using an egg or sperm donor, if deemed necessary.
Pre-Procedure Testing
Before the North Houston IVF procedure can actually begin, a series of blood tests will allow our North Houston fertility specialists to determine hormone levels and test for infectious and genetic diseases, as well as a uterine exam to assess the health of the uterus. If applicable, a semen analysis will also be ordered to determine which type of insemination method is to be used later.
The North Houston IVF Process at Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic or The Woodlands Fertility Clinic
The process is as follows:
Step One: Fertility Medication
Because not all eggs a woman’s body produces will fertilize or develop normally, multiple eggs are needed for the IVF process, so you’ll receive synthetic hormones to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs each month. This process usually takes between 1-2 weeks.
Step Two: Egg Retrieval
Your eggs are collected during a minor medical procedure in our office. Our North Houston IVF doctor will use ultrasound imaging to guide a hollow needle through the pelvic cavity to retrieve the eggs. Medication will be administered to lessen discomfort.
Step Three: Sperm Sample Collected
The sperm sample is procured in our North Houston fertility clinic for introduction with the egg for fertilization. If a donor’s sample is used, there will be no need for this step.
Step Four: Fertilization
The egg and sperm are introduced in a sterile environment and incubated to encourage fertilization. Once cell division has been confirmed, fertilization has taken place and the fertilized eggs are now called embryos.
Step Five: Embryo Transfer
Approximately 3-5 days after fertilization has occurred, the embryos are transferred to the uterus using a catheter. This simple procedure does not require sedation and is performed in our Kingwood IVF clinic or The Woodlands IVF clinic.
Following the IVF Procedure:
About two weeks after embryo transfer, you will return to our Kingwood fertility clinic or The Woodlands fertility clinic to take a pregnancy test. If it is positive, we will encourage you to begin prenatal care as soon as possible. If it is negative, you will stop taking all hormonal medications and discuss the next possible steps with your North Houston fertility specialists.
Trust Our North Houston Fertility Clinic On Your Journey to Fertility
If you’ve been having trouble getting pregnant on your own, schedule an appointment at either our Kingwood IVF clinic or The Woodlands IVF clinic to see what procedures may be beneficial for you.
The road to parenthood can be fraught with challenges and unexpected detours, but like any important journey, the destination is no less rewarding. Many hopeful parents visit our North Houston fertility clinic seeking help for their fertility issues in a comfortable environment with a number of options to suit their family planning process. No two women are alike, which means there are a variety of reasons for each woman’s possible infertility. Our North Houston IVF clinic is here to guide you as you choose the option that’s best for you and your family.
What Causes Infertility?
If you’ve been struggling to get pregnant without intervention, you may be wondering if you’re suffering from infertility. Lots of couples have trouble with this process, but if you’ve been trying to get pregnant for over year and still haven’t, it may be time to schedule an appointment at our Kingwood fertility clinic or our The Woodlands fertility clinic to determine what could be preventing successful conception.
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 with fertility. 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
- Damage caused by disease, such as cancer
Causes of Female Infertility:
- Ovulation problems
- Fallopian tube damage
- Uterine abnormalities
- Advanced maternal age
- Damage caused by disease, like cancer
One or more of these issues present in either parent could lead to infertility and require intervention in order to reach a successful pregnancy.
North Houston IVF at Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic or The Woodlands Fertility Clinic
Many parents turn to Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF when facing issues of fertility, and our team of compassionate, knowledgeable experts are here to guide you in your next step towards parenthood. IVF, or in vitro fertilization, is a popular option for those struggling to get pregnant, as it allows a woman’s egg to be fertilized outside the body in a controlled environment, thereby bypassing the aforementioned challenges to a successful pregnancy. In the North Houston IVF process, a woman’s eggs are collected after being prescribed a hormonal medication that will increase the number of eggs a woman releases at ovulation. This provides more chances for fertilization with the man’s sperm, which is collected and then introduced to the eggs in our lab. If fertilization occurs, the embryo(s) will then be placed inside the woman’s uterus, where they will ideally implant and lead to a successful pregnancy.
Is Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF Right For Me?
Not everyone is an ideal candidate for North Houston IVF, but many of our patients find that IVF is the right next step in their journey to parenthood. If you’ve been unsuccessful with other fertility treatments (including fertility medications), have healthy eggs or are willing to use donor eggs, or whose issues are a result of endometrial scarring or polycystic ovarian syndrome. The best way to determine if you’re an ideal candidate for North Houston IVF is to schedule an appointment at our Kingwood fertility clinic or The Woodlands fertility clinic, where our fertility specialists will perform a thorough exam to identify your needs and walk you through your options.
Our North Houston Fertility Clinic Is Here For You
While infertility can be disappointing, modern medicine makes it possible for those who have been struggling to get pregnant to identify another path to parenthood. We pride ourselves on compassionate, knowledgeable care in a comfortable environment. Call our North Houston fertility clinic today to schedule a consultation with our team and see what options are available for you.
It’s no secret that embarking on your fertility journey brings a lot of unknowns, and although this is a hard time, we are here to support you the entire way through. Our fertility specialists want all of our patients–whether they are young couples, older couples, LGBTQ+ couples, or single–to have a successful pregnancy so they can experience the special blessing that is raising children. Along with our impressive North Houston IVF success rates, we also offer PGT (Preimplantation Genetic Testing). In this article, we will explain what PGT is in case it’s something you would like to consider for your treatment at our Kingwood or The Woodlands IVF clinics.
What is PGT Genetic Testing?
Few know this, but embryos can be tested prior to being transferred into your uterus or your gestational carrier’s uterus.
Once you have undergone your North Houston IVF cycle, we will retrieve the eggs that will be implanted and proceed with incubating them in our onsite IVF lab with the intending father’s sperm (or the donor’s). We will wait for the embryo to develop, at which point we can perform genetic testing via simple biopsy.
Why Some Patients Consider Undergoing PGT During Their North Houston IVF Treatment
There are numerous benefits to undergoing Preimplantation Genetic Testing during your IVF journey.
Did you know that 600+ conditions are caused by genetic abnormalities? Or that some of these genetic abnormalities are responsible for causing a miscarriage? PGT by our North Houston fertility specialists allows us to determine which embryo is the most likely one to result in a healthy pregnancy. If we elect to test multiple embryos, PGT also gives you the option to save other healthy ones for frozen embryo transfer, should you choose to attempt another pregnancy.
The Success Of Your North Houston IVF Treatment Is Based On Chance, But Preimplantation Genetic Testing Can Increase Your Chances
Our fertility specialists at our Kingwood and The Woodlands IVF clinics recommend PGT because it can help us and the intending parents gain a better idea of which embryo will have the greatest success. If you would like to take part in genetic testing through North Houston IVF, please schedule an appointment with us at our Kingwood or The Woodlands IVF clinics. We look forward to helping you along your fertility journey so you can experience the joy and love of a child.
There are many paths to parenthood, and if you’re one of many women facing fertility issues, you may be overwhelmed by your options. Our North Houston IVF clinic offers a number of choices for those hoping to become parents, one of which involves IVF with a surrogate. Whether you’re a patient at our Kingwood IVF clinic or The Woodlands IVF clinic, this procedure may be an option to consider on your journey to parenthood.
The North Houston IVF Process
In vitro fertilization, or IVF, is the process of retrieving eggs from the ovaries and introducing them to 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.
This procedure begins with a consultation to determine if you are a good candidate for IVF. If so, you’ll be given hormonal treatments intended to stimulate egg production so that multiple eggs are released at ovulation. Once this occurs, those eggs will be retrieved using a small device guided by ultrasound imaging and then introduced to a previously collected sperm sample in our lab, ideally resulting in successful fertilization. Once the fertilized egg, now called an embryo, reaches the proper stage of development, it will be placed in the uterus, ideally attaching to the uterine lining to result in pregnancy.
How is IVF With Gestational Carrier Different?
The North Houston IVF with surrogate process begins with the same steps as a typical IVF procedure. What makes IVF with gestational carrier different is the placement of the embryos following successful fertilization. Instead of the mother’s uterus, the embryos will be placed in a surrogate’s uterus in the hopes that it will lead to a successful pregnancy. If so, the surrogate will carry the baby to term.
Is IVF With Surrogate the Right Choice for Me?
Patients who choose North Houston IVF with gestational carrier do so for a number of reasons, the most common of which include:
- Women who have medical problems with their uterus
- Women who have had a hysterectomy
- Women of advanced age
- Women with underlying conditions that may make pregnancy risky
- Gay couples
Finding a Surrogate for North Houston IVF
If you’ve decided that North Houston IVF with gestational carrier is something you’d like to pursue, there are a few ways to locate a good surrogate match. While some parents-to-be turn to family and friends, there are also agencies that match intending parents with women who are interested in serving as surrogates. Those who look to an agency for IVF with gestational carrier should expect to cover the cost of medical expenses, as well as a fee for carrying the baby. Regardless of how you match with a surrogate, clearly establish your expectations for the process, including an initial medical exam, legal agreements, and any other issues of importance for each person involved. Doing so before beginning the North Houston IVF with surrogate process will ensure a smooth and straightforward experience for all.
Our Kingwood IVF and The Woodlands IVF Clinics Can Assist You On Your Journey
Regardless of your needs, our North Houston fertility clinic specialists are known for their compassion and expertise. We pride ourselves in treating you like family while you plan for your own, walking with you each step of the way to offer guidance, support, and knowledge of the latest developments in reproductive health and wellness. Call us today to schedule an appointment and begin your family’s next chapter.
