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How Two Females Can Have a Baby Through Reciprocal IVF

igenomix — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 14:25:01 +0000

Same-sex couples now have several options they can explore when they want to add to their family. In this blog, we will review how two females can have a baby. We will primarily focus on what is known as Reciprocal IVF or “partner IVF”. It’s become an increasingly popular option as it allows both partners to play a large role in their child’s conception.

How Two Females Can Have a Baby through In Vitro Fertilization

When considering your best path to pregnancy, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is one option to consider in how two females can have a baby. Success rates with IVF tend to be higher than IUI success rates. Depending on your age or other factors such as if you have any fertility related diagnosis like Diminished Ovarian Reserve or Premature Ovarian Failure, IVF may be recommended by your doctor.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is the process of retrieving eggs and combining with a sperm sample to create embryos. Any embryo(s) that develop are then transferred to the uterus of the woman planning to carry the baby.

In addition to higher success rates, you can also utilize Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A), previously known as PGS or Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Monogenic Diseases (PGT-M), formerly known as PGD in combination with an IVF cycle. These tests cannot be done in combination with an IUI cycle. With PGT-A embryos are tested to determine the number of chromosomes and embryos with a normal number of chromosomes are transferred. Embryos that are chromosomally normal, with 46 chromosomes have a higher chance of implanting and a lower chance of miscarrying compared to untested embryos. With PGT-M embryos can be tested to see if they contain a certain genetic mutation that may run in the family.

How Two Females Can Have a Baby through Reciprocal (or Partner) In Vitro Fertilization

Now that you understand how two females can have a baby through IVF, let’s review what Reciprocal IVF is. When undergoing Reciprocal IVF, one partner provides the eggs, while the other carries and delivers the baby. Some couples prefer this (as opposed to typical IVF) because they feel it’s a more shared experience since both partners are physically and actively involved. How it works is one of the partners goes through the first half of the IVF process, which entails taking hormone injections (approximately 10 – 14 days) to produce eggs. Then, her eggs are retrieved and fertilized with sperm (from a donor or a known contributor). The embryo would then be transferred to the other partner’s uterus in the hopes that it would implant in her uterine lining. If it did, this would mean a pregnancy is achieved.

How Two Females Can Have a Baby that is NOT IVF Related:

Whether it’s a concern about taking hormone medications, physical limitations, neither of you feel comfortable or able to carry a child, financial concerns, etc., there are other options in how two females can have a baby that is not related to In Vitro Fertilization process. They are:

Adoption: Adoption is one option of how two females can have a baby who don’t feel as strongly about being genetically tied to the child or they do not wish or are not able to carry a child. Same-sex female couples can apply to adopt through a local authority or adoption agency. There are typically three forms of adoption: domestic, international or foster care. You and your partner should do some research on your own to see which you feel would work best for you as a couple.
Surrogacy: Surrogacy is another option of how two females can have a baby. With surrogacy you would work with an IVF center to arrange to have a gestational carrier who is not genetically related to the child agree to carry a pregnancy for a couple or individual. This is typically supported by a legal contract agreement. The lesbian couple could either use an embryo created using one of their eggs through IVF or an embryo through donation.
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) with Donor Sperm: Intrauterine insemination with donor sperm is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and is how two females can have a baby when one of them feels comfortable and is able to be pregnant. Sperm either from a known friend or partner or from a donor could be used for IUIs. A reproductive endocrinologist would use a very thin catheter inserted through the cervix of the woman intended to carry the child, and release the sperm directly in the uterus. IUI is less expensive and less invasive than In Vitro Fertilization. However, it typically has lower success rates than In Vitro Fertilization and can often lead to needing more than one cycle before being successful. In addition, if you were interested in performing genetic testing on the embryo, this would not be possible with IUI.

How Two Females Can Have a Baby is Between You and Your Doctor

Now that you have learned the ways you can grow your family tree and take extra steps to try and ensure the healthiest possible pregnancy and child, your next step is to make an appointment with a fertility doctor to talk through which would be the best fit for you and your partner!

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How Can Lesbian Couples Have a Baby?

igenomix — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 13:00:21 +0000

For any couple, trying to build a family can be an overwhelming process. When you’re in a same-sex female relationship, there are some added factors to navigate. If you’ve been asking yourself, “How can lesbian couples have a baby?”, this is the blog for you. Thanks to assisted reproductive technology, several resources and various choices, you and your partner can decide which one works best for your family building goals.

How can lesbian couples have a baby if they don’t want to be pregnant?

This is a very good question. While some same-sex female couples would like to be parents, neither may either be interested or able physically to carry a child. If you want to know how can lesbian couples have a baby if they don’t want to physically be pregnant, there are two options that are available:

Adoption: Some same-sex female couples can apply to adopt through a local authority or adoption agency. There are typically three forms of adoption: Domestic, International or Foster care. You and your partner should do some research on your own to see which you feel would work best for you as a couple.
Surrogacy: Surrogacy is when a woman who in not genetically related to the child agrees to be a gestational carrier and carry a pregnancy for a couple or individual. This is typically supported by a legal contract agreement. The lesbian couple could either use an embryo created using one of their eggs through IVF or an embryo through donation.

How Can Lesbian Couples Have a Baby if One of Them Wants to Be Pregnant?

If you’re interested in how can lesbian couples have a baby if one of them would like to experience pregnancy, below are the primary ways you can explore. Each does depend on your fertility health, age, and of course, what your reproductive endocrinologist would recommend. They are:

Artificial Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) with Donor Sperm: Artificial insemination is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) that uses sperm either from a known friend or partner or from a donor. A fertility doctor would use a very thin catheter, to insert sperm into the uterus of the woman intended to carry the child. IUI is less expensive and less invasive than In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) but also tends to have lower success rates.
Reciprocal In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with Donor Sperm: When undergoing Reciprocal IVF, one partner provides eggs (ideally, this would be the younger/healthier partner to ensure higher egg quality), while the partner who is interested in being pregnant would carry and deliver the baby. Some couples prefer this because they feel it’s a more shared experience since both partners are actively involved. How it works is one of the partners goes through the IVF process, which entails taking hormone injections (approximately 10 – 14 days) to produce eggs. Then, her eggs are retrieved and fertilized with sperm (again, from an anonymous donor or a known contributor). The embryo would then be transferred to the other partner’s uterus in the hopes that it would implant in her uterine lining. If it did, this would mean a pregnancy is achieved. IVF is more expensive than IUI, but it does have higher success rates and allows the option for genetic testing. Also, should you or your doctor feel genetic testing such as Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) or Pre-implantation Genetic Screening (PGS) is necessary on embryos prior to selecting one for transfer, you may choose to have embryo testing to see if your embryos contain an inherited genetic mutation that can result in disease or confirm that the embryo has a normal number of chromosomes.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with Donor Eggs: Same-sex female couples are aware that they will need a sperm donor. This entails, as we mentioned with artificial insemination, either using a known donor, such as a friend, or going to a sperm bank. However, some also pursue using a donor egg. Sometimes, an individual or couple does not feel strongly about being genetically tied to their child, but one partner would like to have the experience of pregnancy. In other cases, both partners may have an egg quality issue either due to age or if one or both have a diagnosis of Diminished Ovarian Reserve or Premature Ovarian Failure. Whatever the reason, eggs can be donated from a friend or relative, but there are also donor egg banks (like sperm banks) where you can pursue that as an option should you be interested or if it is medically needed. The process would be similar to IVF in that donor sperm and donor eggs would be combined and any resulting embryos would then be transferred to the uterus of the partner who is willing and able to carry the pregnancy.

How Can Lesbian Couples Have a Baby?… but just not yet!

Egg Freezing or Frozen Embryos: Whether it’s freezing one partner (or even both partner’s eggs), using frozen donor eggs or going through an IVF cycle and having embryos frozen to use at a later date, egg freezing, or embryo freezing is an option of how can a lesbian couple have a baby down the line. Since the older you get, the more your fertility declines, it’s not a bad idea to preserve your fertility when it’s optimal. That way, when you are ready to be a parent, you have the option. The process of egg freezing is very similar to the beginning of the IVF process, when egg retrieval is performed. Once the eggs have been retrieved, they will not be fertilized, but instead will be frozen using a process called vitrification. Vitrification is a “fast freeze” that instantly preserves your eggs, thus reducing the chances of ice crystal formations on the egg and presenting less risk to the egg during the thawing process. Egg freezing at a younger age, years prior to when you plan to get pregnant, may decrease the likelihood of having embryos with chromosomal abnormalities. In the future, these eggs could be fertilized through IVF to get pregnant. There is also the option of fertilizing the eggs and freezing embryos to store for later use. The biggest take away when you ask, “How Can Lesbian Couples Have a Baby…” is that they CAN. As we’ve seen, there’s adoption, surrogacy, donor sperm, donor eggs, insemination, IVF, egg freezing and embryo freezing. Plus, having genetic tests to help support your IVF outcomes and there are online resources that offer guidance and support you along your journey!

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How do Lesbian Couples Get Pregnant? A Simple Guide to Your Options

igenomix — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 13:00:06 +0000

If you’re in a loving relationship with your partner, you might be thinking about having children. Although the obvious route might be adoption, many people want to experience pregnancy and have a biological child. But how do lesbian couples get pregnant? What are the options? There are in fact many treatment options and genetic tests available for same-sex couples who want to get pregnant. In this article, we introduce some of the options available to lesbian couples who want to start a family.

So how do Lesbian Couples get Pregnant? Introducing the Medical Options

There are three main medical options for lesbian couples who want to have a baby. All three options have pros and cons depending on your medical history, financial security, age, to name but a few. For example, an older person might have fewer viable eggs, so IVF may be the best route to go down. Or, to give another example, someone who suffers from endometriosis might struggle with insemination. Equally, IVF is likely to be a more successful option. Either way, your doctor should discuss all your options. So – how do lesbian couples get pregnant? Below we cover three options in more detail.

Fertility Treatment Options for Lesbian Couples

Donor insemination is when a syringe is used to insert semen into the vagina. Finding a sperm donor is perhaps the most obvious solution to the question “how do lesbian couples get pregnant?” However, there is more than one way to approach sperm donation. For instance, the sperm can come from someone you know or an anonymous donor. Whichever you decide, a medical professional will help you decide on the best way to find a sperm donor. Some couples are concerned that this could lead to disputes over parentage in the future. However, there are legal structures in place to help ensure this doesn’t become an issue later down the line.
Intrauterine insemination is similar to donor insemination, except that it involves the injection of sperm into the uterus by means of a catheter. This procedure is relatively inexpensive and not as invasive compared to IVF. However, success rates are typically lower.
In vitro fertilization or IVF, is where doctors use fertility medicine to encourage the development of multiple eggs in your ovaries. During egg retrieval, a physician extracts the eggs and fertilizes each mature egg with sperm from a donor. Once embryos are created, an embryo can be transferred into a uterus while any remaining embryos can be frozen for future transfers. Often, lesbian couples opt for IVF so both partners can participate in the pregnancy. For example, the couple may choose to harvest eggs from one partner for the other to carry.

What to Look for in a Good Clinic

Before beginning your pregnancy journey, it is important to research the right fertility clinic for you. Furthermore, it’s important to bear in mind that IVF, particularly, is a significant financial commitment – so you want to ensure you choose the best possible healthcare provider. Couples should make sure they go with a clinic with a good reputation and high success rates. However, be wary of self-published success stories; sometimes they can be exaggerated. Other things to look for is whether or not the clinic has experience with cases like yours. For instance, does the clinic help a lot of same-sex couples? Often asking advice from your circle of friends for recommendations is a good place to start.

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For Same-Sex Female Couples Who Want to Get Pregnant

igenomix — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 10:00:02 +0000

First, congratulations on taking steps to expand your family! Thankfully, we live in a time that provides so many options for same-sex female couples who want to get pregnant. You and your partner can explore them together and decide which one feels right for you. While adoption is one option often considered, below, we are going to discuss some of the other reproductive options available:

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) with Donor Sperm

Intrauterine insemination with donor sperm is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) that uses sperm either from a known friend or partner (depending if it’s legally allowed in the respective country) or from a donor. A reproductive endocrinologist collects the sperm and, using a very thin catheter, inserts it through the cervix of the woman intended to carry the child, and releases the sperm into the uterine cavity in order to bring it closer to the ovum coming from the ovulation. IUI is less expensive and less invasive than In Vitro Fertilization (to be discussed below), and it is commonly used for same-sex female couples who want to get pregnant. However, it typically has lower success rates than In Vitro Fertilization and can often lead to needing more than one cycle before being successful. In addition, if you were interested in performing genetic testing on the embryo, this would not be possible with IUI.

Reciprocal (or Partner) In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with Donor Sperm

One increasingly popular option for same-sex female couples who want to get pregnant is Reciprocal IVF. When undergoing Reciprocal IVF, one partner provides the genetic makeup of the egg, while the other carries and delivers the baby. Some couples prefer this (as opposed to IUI or typical IVF) because they feel it’s a more shared experience since both partners are actively involved. How it works is one of the partners goes through the first half of the IVF process, which entails taking hormone injections (approximately 10 – 14 days) to produce eggs. Then, her eggs are retrieved and fertilized with sperm (again, from a donor or a known contributor). The embryo would then be transferred to the other partner’s uterus in the hopes that it would implant in her uterine lining. If it did, this would mean a pregnancy is achieved. IVF is more expensive than IUI, but it does have higher success rates and allows the option for genetic testing. Testing such as Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening (PGS) can help improve the likelihood that the healthiest embryo is transferred to the second partner. Genetically tested embryos have a higher implantation rate and a lower chance of miscarriage.

Same-sex female couples who want to get pregnant: Egg Freezing

Egg freezing is an option for same-sex female couples who want to get pregnant in the future, but neither are quite ready to have a child just yet. The process of egg freezing is very similar to the beginning of the IVF process, when egg retrieval is performed. Once the eggs have been retrieved, they will not be fertilized, but instead will be frozen using a process called vitrification. Vitrification is a “fast freeze” that instantly preserves your eggs, thus reducing the chances of ice crystal formations on the egg, and presenting less risk to the egg during the thawing process. Egg freezing at a younger age, years prior to when you plan to get pregnant, may decrease the likelihood of having embryos with chromosomal abnormalities. In the future, these eggs could be fertilized through IVF in order to get pregnant.

You Have Options

Given the several reproductive options available for same-sex female couples who want to get pregnant, there are important factors to discuss when deciding what option is best for you and your partner, These include what your comfort levels are, your family building goals, if you feel strongly about being genetically tied to your children or not, which course of action works best for you and your partner, plus the timeline you have in mind. From there, the best first step is to make an appointment with a reproductive endocrinologist who will guide you on this journey!

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