When going through IVF, your doctor will discuss many different scenarios with you.  If this doesn’t work then we’ll try this.  Then, if that doesn’t work we will try this.  It can all become over whelming and the “why and how” of each scenario often gets lost.  One of these scenarios might involve doing assisted hatching in conjunction with IVF to increase your chances of achieving pregnancy.

I had not heard about assisted hatching until after I started the fertility support group and a number of women in the group had either already done IVF with assisted hatching or were preparing to try it.  We began to do research for the group so that we would all have a better understanding of how it works.

When an embryo is forming, it has a protective layer surrounding it called the zona pellucida.  For implantation in the uterus to occur, the embryo must break through or “hatch” from the zona pellucida.

For unknown reasons, some women’s embryos have a tougher, stronger zona pellucida and need assistance in the hatching process.  Other factors also play a role in the use of assisted hatching.  Women who are over age 39 are typically recommended for assisted hatching.  Poor egg quality or quantity, poor embryo quality, a day 3 elevated FSH and previously failed IVFS also contribute to the use of assisted hatching.

There are two main techniques used to make a small hole in the zona pellucida.  Assisted hatching is typically done by laser or chemical.  The embryo is held in place and a small laser or tiny, hollow acid filled needle is used to penetrate the cell.  After the hole is made, the embryo is cleaned.  Some clinics do a direct transfer whereas other clinics will put the embryo back into an incubator for a short period of time before transfer.  The transfer occurs just as it would for IVF without assisted hatching.  Some clinics will prescribe antibiotics after assisted hatching because the embryos protective outer shell is compromised during the procedure.

A small percentage of embryos might be damaged by assisted hatching.  It should only be preformed by a qualified embryologist with experience in doing assisted hatching.  You should talk to your clinic about their success rates and you can research their embryologist to make sure that you feel comfortable with them performing the procedure.  Which assisted hatching technique is used, damage to embryos and inexperienced embryologists can all negatively affect pregnancy rates

Overall, studies have shown that assisted hatching can help improve pregnancy rates.  These studies show that IVF with assisted hatching has a higher rate of success than IVF without assisted hatching.  Assisted hatching is a relatively new procedure that gives hope to couples who would not have had the option just 15 years ago.  I would encourage you to explore more information about the assisted hatching technique and your clinic’s success rates before making a decision about using assisted hatching to make sure you feel it is right for you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 19th, 2006 at 3:18 am and is filed under Fertility. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.