ook, I know.. It sounds a bit weird.. but bear with me... I reckon new fertility
treatments and protocols are a bit like a new iPhone.....
You know how when there is a new iPhone about to be released... some people camp outside the Apple Store, waiting for a glimpse of this shiny new thing...
Well, some IVF Drs are a bit like that too....there are some Drs who jump on any new idea, they w
ant to try all the new stuff out as soon as they can. They don’t really know if it's going to make a difference, but it might and they want to try it (a bit like the people who line up out the front of the apple store to get the latest model)
But there are other Drs who want to wait and see, they don’t want you to have unnecessary tests or expensive treatments if it’s actually not going to help. They prefer to wait a little while and see what this new treatment is REALLY like, is it ACTUALLY going to make things better or help you? or is it just expensive and shiny and new, but doesn’t really have anything to offer? (these are like the ones who have an iPhone 8 or 11 rather than the 13)
And then there are the really conservative ones, the ones who focus on the idea of IVF being a ‘numbers game’ and that ‘your turn will come’ and who don’t make any changes to your treatment plan at all, even if you’re up to your 5th egg collection - these are like the people still running an iPhone 6! it still works most of the time, most calls and messages come through so why fix what’s not broken??
Except that maybe it is… broken that is… maybe there is some amazing new app that you haven’t found yet that might make all the difference to how you organise your day, but you can’t run it because it doesn’t work on your old phone…
The field of fertility is ever-changing. There are articles being published every month, reporting on research from all over the world from literally thousands of scientists working on ways to make IVF more successful, to give you more chances of taking a baby home one day. Some of these articles report ‘preliminary findings’ that show that some new thing ‘might’ be helpful for ‘some’ people, or perhaps they uncover some possible reason for things that don’t always go to plan…
and then these articles are presented at scientific meetings, and other scientists hear about them and maybe change their research to add to a growing body of evidence about something new… and slowly the information increases and the data is gathered and a piece of research becomes a new treatment that might help some people….
IVF and Fertility research in general takes time, the more variables there are - the more time it takes! and in fertility treatment - there are LOTS of variables!! female age, male age, reason for infertility, hormones, how long you’ve been trying.. not to mention all of the lifestyle factors that we are learning more about all the time - which of those really makes an impact??
Want to understand more about IVF Add-ons? head to this bonus resource guide (it's included in the MindFul IVF Program)
and If you're looking for an independent perspective and some fresh eyes on what you've been through so far and where you could go next - book in a time and let's chat!