IVF alone may not be enough: How to boost your baby chances
IVF should be a last resort and not the only solution for couples trying to have a baby, warns a fertility specialist.
Gabriela Rosa, an Australian-based world-renowned fertility expert, says couples with a history of infertility can reliably fall pregnant without IVF.
“Couples rush into IVF far too frequently, and it’s not a cure-all for fertility,” she says.
“In most cases, IVF is billed per treatment cycle rather than a fee for a healthy baby, meaning the money being made from IVF can change the advice couples receive,” she says.
“When conception or keeping a healthy pregnancy to term isn’t easy, the biggest problem many couples face is that not enough attention has been given to investigating the underlying cause.”
Ms. Rosa says IVF is often seen as the ‘go-to’ for having a baby because of how our healthcare system is structured, rather than it being the best treatment option for patients experiencing reproductive issues.
“The only real way to ensure couples struggling to conceive don’t run out of time to have a baby is to understand their underlying biochemical factors because that will usually lead to the root cause of their reproductive problems.”
With a Master of Science in reproductive medicine and genetics and a Master of Public Health, Ms Rosa has dedicated 20 years of research and clinical practice to improving clinical results in fertility. Her evidence-based, The Fertility Breakthrough Program™, delivers a 78.8%* success rate for couples wanting to have a baby.
“Our intervention has successfully helped patients overcome infertility and recurrent miscarriage, even when other treatments have failed.”
Ms. Rosa says most women fall pregnant typically without trying, so when couples don’t conceive, experience miscarriage or failed treatments, it’s a shock.
“When couples come to me, they often say, ‘we’ve done everything we can,’ and my response is ‘not yet, you’ve only done everything you’ve known up until now.’”
“They may have addressed 98% of the reproductive obstacle they face, but that 2% missing still means 100% no baby, and that is the exact place of opportunity that gives these types of patients their desired results.”
Ms. Rosa says with an infertility diagnosis, problems such as endometriosis, fibroids, polyps, gut, thyroid issues, and sperm DNA fragmentation, among many other factors, can be identified, and an evidence-based holistic program put in place for couples.
“When couples are complex cases, and they receive multi-factorial diagnoses, trying to bypass these issues by ‘going straight’ to assisted reproductive treatments like IVF/ICSI often fails anyway.”
There’s overwhelming evidence that more than half of those referred to IVF could be treated successfully by alternative fertility treatments.
Why alternative fertility treatmeants may be suitable
Pregnancy is not a numbers game
When couples fail to conceive, it’s disheartening to be told pregnancy is a numbers game, it’s out of your hands, or you can only hope. It’s not helpful, and it’s also not true. The reality is infertility is complex, but in most instances, it can be overcome without going down the IVF path – and you can control the outcome with the right treatment.
Preconception health must be a priority
Couples have to know exactly how their bodies perform before trying for a baby. Basic lifestyle issues or underlying medical problems may need addressing – seemingly minor issues can significantly impact fertility, and little lifestyle tweaks may make all the difference.
Physical, emotional, and biochemical issues are critical
It is essential to precisely understand the true impact of diet, wellness, and lifestyle based on an individual’s genetic makeup. Different toxin combinations, for example, can affect many systems in the body and result in infertility
It’s impossible to ‘hack’ biology
The quality of egg and sperm is trans generationally impacted and further determined by a lifetime of habits and especially everything the couple has done in the eight months before trying to conceive. The key to making progress in a relatively short time for maximum benefit lies in understanding the right levers to pull in a couple’s situation.
IVF is not a silver bullet
People have been trained to believe that purely science and technology will solve their problem, but that narrative is only partially true. IVF doesn’t suit all couples, doesn’t work for all couples, and there are alternatives and possibly more effective solutions to taking home a healthy baby. The profile given to IVF has led most people to believe it is almost the only treatment and the most successful.
“Some individuals need assisted reproductive treatments such as IVF/ ICSI, but these treatments don’t guarantee a healthy baby without proper diagnosis and effective treatment,” says Ms. Rosa.
Gabriela Rosa is a fertility specialist and founder and clincial director of the Rosa Institute.
