Treatment

Natural IVF / Mini IVF

Natural IVF allows doctors to extract the best quality eggs using minimal medications.

What is Natural IVF / Mini IVF?

Natural IVF, sometimes referred to as Mini IVF or Minimal Stimulation IVF, is a variation of IVF that requires little or no medication before egg retrieval. In a typical IVF treatment cycle a woman takes hormone injections for 8-10 days to stimulate her ovaries to produce multiple eggs. With Natural IVF, no injectable medications are used prior to egg retrieval. A combination of oral and low dose injections are used rather than the standard 8-10 days of injectable medications. Natural IVF allows doctors to extract the best quality eggs using minimal medications. Women who choose Natural IVF / Mini IVF will generally have less eggs available for retrieval.

When is Natural or Minimal Stimulation IVF used?

Natural IVF is appropriate for patients who do not wish to use fertility medications to stimulate egg production, and would rather rely on the body’s natural processes to produce eggs that can be retrieved. It is also sometimes used by patients who are not candidates for standard IVF, or for patients who had unsuccessful standard IVF treatments in the past. It is used when patients cannot, or do not wish to, take large quantities of fertility medications. Natural IVF can also be more appropriate for older women or women with lower ovarian reserve.

Use of Natural or Minimal Stimulation IVF does not change the rest of the IVF procedure. The doctor will still retrieve any eggs that were produced, send them to a laboratory to be fertilized, and transfer the embryos back to the uterus.

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