Enter the first day of your last period and the menstrual cycle length to calculate the most fertile days of your cycle. If your cycles are irregular, please contact us for evaluation and calculation of your most fertile days.
To conceive a baby, you need an egg and a sperm to fertilize it. Most often, that happens naturally, through well-timed intercourse. For one in eight women, however, infertility makes natural conception a challenge at best. If you experience difficulty becoming pregnant and suspect you may have fertility issues, it’s time you consult with a fertility specialist.
For couples who desperately want a family but are unsuccessful in trying to conceive naturally, there is an answer. After 12 months of unprotected sex without success, or for those women over 35, six months of unprotected intercourse, it’s time to see your doctor and find out why you’re struggling to conceive.
There may be one clear reason, such as endometriosis or PCOS, or there may be a few different reasons. In about one-third of infertility cases, the cause relates to male factor infertility. Female factor infertility figures in about one-third of the diagnoses as well. In some cases, doctors can’t diagnose and issue in either the male or female, and in other cases, there may be a combination of diagnoses.
The Most Common Diagnosis
The most common cause behind failure to conceive naturally? Ovulation disorders. An ovulation disorder occurs when a woman experiences difficulties with the release of mature, viable, healthy eggs from the ovaries. There are many factors that contribute to these difficulties, including the following.
Age: As a woman draws closer to menopause, their ovarian reserve declines. That means there are fewer viable eggs for fertilization.
PCOS: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome impacts ovulation, as well as the health of the eggs. The cause of PCOS is a hormone imbalance and can affect any woman of childbearing age.
Endometriosis: Endometrial tissue is the tissue that lines the uterus in preparation for the implantation of a fertilized egg. When no fertilized egg implants, your uterine lining exits your body through your period. Endometriosis occurs when cells that mimic the uterine lining attach to your pelvic organs. This causes inflammation, bleeding, pain, and scarring of the ovaries and fallopian tubes, which prevent ovulation.
Primary Ovarian Insufficiency: Also known as premature ovarian failure, this is a condition where the ovaries halt function before age 40. POI may stem from a genetic condition or medical treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation.
Other causes of ovulation issues may stem from medical conditions such as thyroid dysfunction or an autoimmune disorder. Certain medications interfere with ovulation, and lifestyle factors like over-exercising, chronic stress, eating disorders, and weight issues all contribute to ovulatory dysfunction.
Tracking Your Ovulation
One way to know if you are ovulating is through an ovulation calculator. We offer a handy online calculator here, or if you feel more secure tracking on paper, we’ll walk you through it.
Calendar Method
- Track the first day of your period for a few months to notice a pattern. Your period may come every 24-32 days, give or take a few days. But make note of the pattern.
- Subtract 12-16 days from the expected start of your next period. This provides a more accurate range than simply two weeks. This is the range of dates in which ovulation should occur.
- For irregular cycles, use your shortest cycle to calculate the earliest date ovulation should occur and your longest cycle for predicting the latest ovulation date.
The calendar method may take some months to establish. For those who experience irregular cycles, this method may not be as accurate.
Cervical Mucus Method
This method relies on paying attention to your body’s changes, specifically your vaginal discharge. As you draw nearer to ovulation, your cervical mucus increases and noticeable changes occur. Your vaginal discharge becomes noticeably thin, clear, and slippery. Track these changes for a few months, and you’ll gain insight into your ovulation window.
Two other methods for tracking ovulation are the Basal Body Temperature method and an ovulation predictor kit.
How to Overcome Ovulatory Issues
Overcoming ovulatory issues comes from addressing the underlying issues, such as taking medication, addressing lifestyle factors, or undergoing medical interventions such as surgical procedures or hormone therapies.
In some cases, the use of medical intervention restores your fertility. Other diagnoses may call for assisted reproductive technologies like IVF to overcome infertility related to ovarian dysfunction.
Egg-freezing is a valuable consideration for women diagnosed with ovarian dysfunction and who wish to preserve their fertility. Many conditions that impact ovulation, egg quality, and viability could potentially worsen, even after treatment. Inflammation from endometriosis, for example, may cause scarring and impact ovulation in the future, and interfere with reproduction at any point. For these women, especially, egg-freezing preserves the best quality eggs for the future.
Freezing your eggs, as long as you have adequate ovarian reserve, may work at any time during your childbearing years. However, as age plays a significant role in the health and viability of your eggs, the younger you are, the better your odds for success. When the time comes, the lab defrosts your eggs for fertilization via IVF.
In order to retrieve a sufficient number of eggs, you may require more than one cycle. And while freezing your eggs helps ensure your best odds for future pregnancy, it isn’t a guarantee.
Cost of Treatment
There are many factors that figure into the cost of egg freezing. Your diagnosis and any treatments before egg retrieval certainly impact the bottom line. Also, egg freezing costs depend on how many cycles you may require. Finally, the fertility clinic in L.A. influences how much egg freezing costs.
But, ultimately, egg freezing is not a situation in which you want to bargain hunt. From the reputation and success rates of the fertility clinic in L.A. to the medications and treatments required surrounding the procedure, budget, while a consideration, should not be the deciding factor.
Options
At LA IVF, we understand just how important your future family is to you. That’s why we work with financing partners to help make treatment more affordable. Med Loan and Future Families offer great options for financing your treatment. For more on our options for overcoming ovulatory issues, please contact LA IVF today.
