Doctors are continually developing new medical techniques that can make it easier for people to have the family of their dreams. A particularly useful procedure that is becoming more common is assisted hatching in Arlington Heights. This method can help facilitate hatching rates, and doctors may perform it as part of an IVF cycle. Understanding how hatching works can help you decide if it is right for you.
What Is Assisted Hatching?
To understand how this method helps with infertility, you may find it helpful to learn a little about how embryos and implantation work. When the sperm first successfully fertilizes the egg, the early embryo spends a few days growing inside of a thick shell called a zona pellucida. The tiny embryo, which is in the blastocyst stage, repeatedly expands and contracts until the zona thins and changes its elasticity. Eventually, the embryo then breaks out of the zona pellucida. At this point, it adheres to the wall of the uterus where it begins growing.
However, hatching can be difficult or impossible for an embryo. This fact is especially true when it was grown in laboratory conditions and then inserted into the uterus. Assisted hatching in Arlington Heights solves this problem by making a tiny crack in the embryo’s zona pellucida. This process makes it easier for the embryo to escape its shell and come in contact with the uterine wall.
How to Tell If You Are a Good Candidate for Assisted Hatching
Doctors may not recommend this technique for every person going through IVF in Arlington Heights as part of fertility or surrogate implantation procedure. Though it does not harm your risks of implantation or a successful pregnancy, it does run the risk of making the embryo nonviable. Hatching can also increase the risk of identical twins, so it is not advisable for mothers in poor health. Typically, your fertility specialist will recommend the procedure if you have tried IVF in the past but could not conceive.
It is also useful if your embryos all have an abnormally thick zona pellucida or are developing at a slower than average rate. In situations where your chances of fertility are lower, such as having elevated FSH levels during the follicular phase or being over the age of 35, hatching can also be useful. A final reason to go with assisted hatching in Arlington Heights is if you are planning on getting a preimplantation genetic diagnosis. It is easier for your doctor to take a few cells from the embryo for a biopsy if the embryo is hatching already.
What to Expect With Assisted Hatching
The hatching assistance journey for you will mostly be the same as the standard IVF Arlington Heights procedure. It starts with a woman taking hormones to boost egg production and a small process to remove the egg. Then the egg is fertilized, allowed to grow for a few days, and frozen until ready for implantation. When it is time to implant the young embryo, the crack will be introduced a few hours before implantation.
There are multiple ways for the crack in the zona pellucida to be created. Some facilities use an acid solution to thin the shell in a small spot. Others may use a laser for precision-guided cuts in the shell. Then, the doctor will implant the embryo using a catheter inserted through the vagina and into the uterus. The person carrying the embryo may experience some slight discomfort, but it is a reasonably noninvasive procedure. Though the person carrying the embryo will not notice anything different when doing IVF with or without hatching, hatching assistance can make a big difference for an embryo. Having a small crack in the zona can greatly facilitate implantation. Once the doctor implants the embryo is implanted, it can begin to grow.
Get Treatment at Advanced Reproductive Center Arlington Heights
If you think assisted hatching in Arlington Heights might be helpful for you, be sure to discuss it with your doctor. Advanced Reproductive Center can guide you through the fertility boosting process and help you find the procedures that work best for you. In addition to hatching assistance, we can also provide you with other services, including:
- Intrauterine insemination
- Egg donors
- Male fertility treatment
- Intracytoplasmic sperm injections
- In vitro fertilization
- Fertility enhancing medications
Call Advanced Reproductive Center of Arlington Heights, IL, at 844.395.2735 to get started on your fertility journey.