Family Building for Same Sex Couples with the Effortless IVF ™ Solution
Watch this story about a family’s journey with the Effortless IVF ™ solution.
Treatment options for LGBTQ+ individuals and couples has continued to grow and expand over time. Legalization of same sex marriage has simplified the legal issues and expanded treatment options for the LGBTQ+ community.
One of those advances occurred in 2017 when the Effortless IVF ™ solution, added the option of Reciprocal IVF. An increasing number of same sex female couples are choosing to undergo Reciprocal Effortless IVF ™. For this option, one woman has her ovaries stimulated and the eggs harvested. The embryo is then transferred to her partner who carries and delivers the pregnancy. What makes the Reciprocal Effortless IVF ™ process unique is that the woman who undergoes the stimulation carries the egg and sperm inside her vagina using the INVOcell device for five days following the egg retrieval. The egg and early embryo development occurs inside her body. This offers her a unique connection to her baby. The INVOcell device is removed after five days. The embryo(s) are removed and frozen. Her partner begins estrogen with her next menstrual cycle. The couple communicates with the IVF coordinator and IVF lab to pick their day of embryo transfer. No sonograms are performed during the frozen transfer cycle. The majority of patients transfer a single embryo following the SART/ASRM guidelines.
The Effortless IVF ™ Solution and Reciprocal IVF
Precycle Evaluation
For Reciprocal Effortless IVF ™, the evaluation is split between the two women. The woman who is going to undergo the egg retrieval has assessment of her egg count and her partner who carries the pregnancy has her uterus evaluated.
Partner Undergoing Stimulation:
- Weight less than 190 pounds and BMI less than 35
- AMH 0.8 or greater on two occasions using Roche assay
- Antral follicles (total) 8 or greater
- No significant medical issues
Donor Sperm
- Sample from sperm bank for ICI (intracervical insemination). We do not want a pre-washed sample; therefore, not an IUI or IVF sample
Partner Who Carriers the Pregnancy
- BMI less than 40
- Uterine evaluation: transvaginal pelvic ultrasound, hysteroscopy and HSG
- No significant medical issues which would preclude pregnancy
Benefits to Reciprocal Effortless IVF ™
- Reciprocal Effortless IVF ™ allows both women to play an active and involved role in their baby's creation and development. One woman provides the environment for fertilization of her egg(s) and early embryo development. Her partner has the embryo placed into her womb and carries the baby throughout pregnancy to the finish line.