Infertility affects many couples. In fact, it affects men and women rather evenly. However, quite often, couples aren’t aware until later that they are infertile, but the good news is that infertility testing is a great option that may help you start on your fertility journey a little earlier. In this article, our North Houston IVF doctors in Kingwood and The Woodlands will talk about when it’s the right time to get tested for infertility and how fertility testing works. 

When To Undergo Fertility Testing

Fertility tests can be conducted in a number of ways and they help doctors determine whether a couple is, in fact, facing infertility, what is causing it, and what are the best options for them going forward. If you and your partner have attempted to get pregnant for over a year with no results, then this may suggest infertility. If you are a woman over 35 and have had no success getting pregnant for 6 months, then you may consider infertility testing at this point as well, since infertility is more likely at this age.

How Do Fertility Tests Work?

A fertility test starts out with your doctor asking you and your partner about your medical and sexual histories and then following with a physical exam. Your doctor may test a woman’s eggs, uterus, and fallopian tubes with a pelvic exam and ultrasound.

For men, doctors may evaluate male fertility by examining the sperm and semen through a semen analysis, which will give the doctor insight on sperm count, sperm quality/shape/size, sperm speed, and the amount of seminal fluid.

Once You Learn Of Your Infertility, What’s Next?

Once we know more about what exactly causes yours and your partner’s infertility, it’s time to determine how our various fertility treatments and therapies can help. As a fertility clinic in The Woodlands and Kingwood specializing in IVF, we will work with you to help you achieve the pregnancy you dream of with treatments tailored to your unique case.

HART Fertility in North Houston Is Committed to Helping Infertile Couples Get Pregnant And Deliver A Healthy Baby

If you’re in Kingwood or The Woodlands, our North Houston fertility clinic is here to support you in your fertility journey from start to end so you can achieve your dream of parenthood. If you would like to learn more about infertility and the best fertility treatments for you, then please request an appointment with our IVF specialists. 

At our fertility clinic in Kingwood and The Woodlands, we offer a variety of treatments that are to be used in tandem with In-Vitro Fertilization, otherwise known as IVF. IVF is a series of steps we take in order to fertilize an egg outside of the body before implanting it into the uterus. In this article, we will explain who may benefit from using donor eggs and how to find a suitable egg donor.

Who Is A Good Candidate For Using Donor Eggs In Their North Houston IVF Treatment

Donor eggs are recommended in a variety of cases that contribute to infertility, including:

• Cancer Survivors: Women who have undergone cancer treatment may benefit greatly from using donor eggs if their ovaries have been damaged or even removed.
• Women With A Low Egg Count: Sometimes, women enter early menopause, resulting in a low egg count. Other times, it is unclear why a woman has a lower-than-normal egg count.
• Congenital Anomaly: Some patients were born without ovaries as a result of a congenital disorder, so they are physically incapable of producing any of their own eggs.
• Gay male couples who wish to have their own baby will also benefit from donor eggs with a gestational carrier.

Finding A Suitable Egg Donor For Your Kingwood IVF Procedure

If a couple has to use an egg donor, we urge them to take their time finding a suitable donor they will be happy with. While relying on someone the couple personally knows is an option, here are two other viable options:

Egg Donor Agency

An egg donor agency is dedicated to connecting egg donors with intending parents and can even help parents find donors with specific traits. The donor and the parent will usually undergo the IVF process at the same time so that their menstrual periods line up.

Egg Bank

At an egg donor bank, donors have already frozen their eggs so we will handle the rest of the North Houston IVF process and discuss your chances of success. Similar to an agency, an egg bank may offer certain characteristics that the intended parents might be looking for.

Kingwood IVF Treatment At Our North Houston Fertility Clinics

If you have been struggling to get pregnant for a year and are considering undergoing IVF with donor eggs, then please request an appointment with us. We will determine whether you are facing infertility and discuss your options in more detail so we can assist you in your IVF journey. We look forward to helping you achieve a healthy pregnancy and deliver a beautiful baby!

When it comes to IVF treatment at our North Houston fertility clinics in The Woodlands or Kingwood, there are multiple steps involved that many of our patients may or may not be fully aware of. In this article, we will break down each of those steps so you are well-informed about IVF, should you consider undergoing this fertility treatment.

Step 1: Ovarian Stimulation

At the beginning of your IVF treatment, our fertility doctors will administer hormones that stimulate your ovaries to produce more eggs at a time. This enables us to find and fertilize multiple healthy eggs to maximize your chances of getting pregnant.

Step 2: Egg Retrieval

Once you have completed the course of your hormone injections, it’s time to retrieve your eggs through a minor, painless surgery. In this surgery, we use a transvaginal probe that will enable us to pull the eggs. Though you are anesthetized, you may feel some minor cramping afterward, but this can be treated with medication. At this point, we will also collect sperm to fertilize the eggs. At this point, you can opt to freeze your eggs, or continue to step 3.

Step 3: Fertilization

In our very own fertility lab at our North Houston IVF clinics in Kingwood and The Woodlands, we will combine the egg and the sperm (or donor sperm). This concept of fertilizing the egg outside of the body is what we refer to as In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), but IVF is also the name of this entire process.

Step 4: Embryo Development

Once fertilized, we will wait until the day-5 embryo stage, which is also known as the blastocyst stage. At this point, we will either proceed with embryo freezing or move onto the next step.

Step 5: Pre-Implantation Genetic Testing

Although this is optional, we highly recommend undergoing genetic testing, a process in which we can test to find out how genetically healthy the embryo is in order to determine how likely it is that you will deliver a healthy baby.

Step 6: Embryo Transfer

The next step is to ready the body and have it undergo the typical hormonal changes a woman’s body undergoes when she is pregnant. Once ready, we will inject the embryo into the uterus with the help of an abdominal ultrasound. The patient won’t feel any pain when this occurs.

Step 7: Pregnancy Test

10 days following embryo transfer/implantation, you will return to our IVF clinic in North Houston for a blood test to determine if you’re pregnant.

Our IVF Doctors In The Woodlands And Kingwood Are Here To Help You Achieve A Healthy Pregnancy

Infertility is a battle, but we take great pride in helping aspiring parents get pregnant and deliver a healthy baby. We are proud of our high embryo quality rates, so if you’re considering undergoing IVF, please request an appointment so we can assess your fertility and recommend a treatment plan.

Although infertility tends to be associated with women, men are also affected by this. Did you know that 30%-50% of couples experience fertility on the male’s part? This doesn’t mean they’re at fault, though; it simply means that men are more affected than many seem to think. In this article, our North Houston fertility specialists in The Woodlands and Kingwood will discuss potential causes of infertility and some effective treatments that may help mitigate your infertility challenges so you can achieve a healthy pregnancy.

Causes of Infertility in Men

Male infertility usually comes down to four issues with the sperm and/or semen:

• Low Sperm Count
  • Often, we see men who have a low sperm count, which is defined as less than 15 million
• Poor Sperm Mobility
  • This cause of infertility occurs when the sperm have a hard time getting to the egg
• Abnormal Sperm Shape
  • Sperm that is shaped abnormally has a hard time reaching the egg with accuracy and effectiveness
• Abnormal Semen
  • Semen is the fluid that helps transport the sperm to the egg. If it’s considered abnormal, then this would also result in the sperm struggling to reach the egg. 

You may wonder what actually causes these issues to occur in the first place. There are a few root causes, including:

• Certain medical conditions
• Hormonal imbalance
• Certain disorders
• Genetic factors. 

Other factors could be radiation therapy, anemia, diabetes, alcoholism, and mental stress.

Causes of Infertility in Women

Infertility in women is often caused by issues with ovulation, fallopian tubes, the uterus, or the cervix. If the uterus or fallopian tube are damaged in some way, then the egg will have a hard time traveling from the ovary to the uterus.

What can cause these problems in the first place? Similar to male infertility, there are plenty of possible root causes, including:

• Premature ovarian failure
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which typically causes ovulation to not occur at all.
• Chemo and radiation therapy
• Anemia
• Thyroid problems
• Eating disorders
• Mental illness
• Endometriosis, a condition in which the cells that line the uterus grow elsewhere. 

Infertility Treatments At Our IVF Clinic In The Woodlands And Kingwood

The many different causes of infertility may seem worrisome, but the good news is that there is a plethora of effective treatments and alternatives for men and women. At HART Fertility in The Woodlands and Kingwood, we offer several options that may be done in tandem with IVF, such as egg and embryo freezing, donor sperm and donor eggs, ovulation induction, and more! If you have been struggling to get pregnant for at least a year, then please request an appointment with our IVF doctors so you can undergo fertility testing and we can determine which treatment(s) is best for you!