Considering surrogacy?
3 things you need to know to improve surrogacy outcomes:
- If possible, the egg-donor should be treated for 3 months prior to retrieval to help improve egg quality.
- If there are any male factor issues the sperm-donor should also be treated for three months prior to fertilization.
- The surrogate herself should be treated pre and post embryo transfer on the same day of transfer. If possible, the surrogate should be treated twice weekly for 13 weeks after transfer.
Improve Egg Quality
Why? Even if the egg donor is twenty-years-old, there is always room for improvement in egg quality. I’m sure that you’re aware, even twenty-year-old women can miscarry. Acupuncture often significantly improves egg and lining quality.
How? Acupuncture strongly stimulates blood flow to the ovaries and the endometrium. Blood is simply a messenger; it carries oxygen, hormones, electrolytes, and nutrients to the ovaries and lining and helps to remove dead cells from both areas. As a result, there is great potential for egg quality improvement and lining improvement.
Treat Male Factor Issues
Why? Acupuncture can improve sperm count, motility, morphology and often correct sperm dna fragmentation, an often-overlooked male factor pathology. If there are sperm issues due to genetic defect (micro-deletion of the y chromosome), acupuncture cannot improve this. If there are anatomical reasons such as a history of undescended testes, or a severe varicocele, acupuncture cannot help.
How? Acupuncture strongly stimulates blood flow to the testes. Blood is simply a messenger; it carries oxygen, hormones, electrolytes, and nutrients to the testes and helps to remove dead cells from them. The improved delivery rate of the ‘good stuff’ and the rapid excretion of dead cells from the testes often show amazing results in sperm quality improvement. As a result, there is a greater potential for a healthy embryo(s), and an ongoing successful pregnancy.
Treating the Surrogate
Why? The uterus is flat like a pancake; the bottom and the top of the uterus touch each other. When a catheter is inserted into the uterus to deposit the embryo, the uterus, as a result of being stimulated by the catheter will spasm. As a result of this spasming, there can be retrograde flow of the embryo into one of the fallopian tubes causing an ectopic pregnancy.
In fact, IVF patients have twice the chance of having an ectopic pregnancy than the non-IVF population. Furthermore, 90% of all miscarriages occur within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. If we can get you to 13 weeks, you’re most probably going to deliver.
How? Treating with acupuncture pre-embryo-transfer facilitates a greater perfusion of blood flow to the uterus. This can often help with implantation. Treating after the transfer, greatly reduces or completely stops uterine spasming. As a result, there is a reduced chance of an ectopic pregnancy and a greater chance of an endometrial pregnancy.
Additionally, it is important to continue treatment twice weekly for 13 weeks post transfer as many miscarriages occur within the first 12 weeks. One benefit of continuing acupuncture for 13 weeks post transfer is acupuncture improves blood perfusion to the placenta. This helps to prevent miscarriage due to IUFD (intra uterine fetal demise). Acupuncture helps to greatly reduce the chances of this type of event by continuously stimulating blood flow to the placenta. This allows the intake of nutrients by the baby and the excretion of waste from the baby – an absolute must for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.
Conclusion
Acupuncture is used successfully to treat infertility cases. Surrogacy cases require a skilled coordination of participant treatments, using the appropriate and specialized treatment for the male, donor, and surrogate.
The Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness is the first complementary reproductive medicine in the United States. Our 23 years of experience will enable us to help you achieve your goal of family.