New clinic offers choice for IVF
(sz) A new private fertility clinic in Auckland aims to halve treatment times for in-vitro fertilisation.
IVF Auckland, which opens its doors officially today, aims to use a procedure that is still relatively little-used in New Zealand as its default option for couples needing help to conceive.
Its medical director, Dr Guy Gudex, said overseas studies had shown that the shorter cycle IVF treatment the clinic was championing was just as effective as the standard month-long cycle used to stimulate a woman’s egg production.
The current standard treatment used in New Zealand, known as down regulation, requires two to three weeks of daily injections of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist to hold off ovulation. This effectively allows the doctor to control the timing of the woman’s cycle.
After two weeks, a second daily injection of egg follicle-stimulating hormone is introduced to promote multiple egg development. The patient self-administers the two injections for a further 10 to 12 days before a final hormonal “trigger” injection is given to allow for the eggs to be harvested. more…
From: »New Zealand Herald«