IVF is the core activity that has become most people's anchor of assisted reproductive technology in the quest to address their issues with infertility. With advancements in technology, we have something called Mini-IVF now. It is known as minimal stimulation IVF. What characterises Mini-IVF is a more gentle stimulation process compared to the original version of IVF and therefore tends to be less expensive and invasive for some patients.
In this blog, we’ll explore what Mini-IVF is, how it differs from traditional IVF, and what factors to consider when choosing between the two options in terms of cost, stimulation protocols, and success rates.
What is Mini-IVF?
Mini-IVF is another variation of standard IVF and differs in dosages of fertility drugs that are much smaller to stimulate the ovaries toward producing eggs. The idea is to get fewer but more through quality than quantity and with minimum side effects and costs that may be associated with the higher dosages of hormones.
The mini-IVF procedure typically involves:
- Minimal ovarian stimulation with low doses of fertility drugs or oral medications; clomiphene citrate or letrozole.
- Retrieval of eggs, hence obtaining the matured eggs produced during the stimulation cycle.
- It is done in the laboratory where such eggs collected are mixed with sperm by either the traditional invitro fertilization technique or ICSI.
- One or more embryos formed through assisted reproductive technique are placed in the uterus where they may implant.
- While Mini-IVF is essentially very similar in principle to conventional IVF, it requires many fewer medications; fewer eggs are usually retrieved, which may become at one and the same time its strength and its weakness.
Difference between Mini-IVF and traditional IVF
Differences between mini-IVF and traditional IVF would essentially exist in three areas: the level of ovarian stimulation, the cost incurred from the procedure, and the outcome concerning the success rate.
1. Activation Procedures
Among many differences is the fact that Mini-IVF has less ovarian stimulation compared to IVF.
Conventional IVF involves prescribing a patient high dose protocol of stimulation whereby more than 10 eggs are retrieved in a cycle. This can be achieved by doing injections daily with gonadotropins, FSH, and LH, which stimulate the ovaries, and frequent ultrasound monitoring on the development of follicles. It will therefore entail the extraction of as many eggs from the patient since not all the eggs will fertilise, or if they do fertilise then not all of them will have viable embryos.
Mini-IVF: The stimulation protocol used in Mini-IVF is less invasive. The body is stimulated with lower doses of injectable hormones or oral medications, such as Clomiphene citrate or letrozole, to produce fewer eggs (usually 2-5). It does not disrupt the normal levels of hormones within the body as much as an aggressive protocol. So, this in turn does not increase the risk for OHSS - a known problem associated with the high stimulation protocols of traditional IVF.
2. Cost of treatment
For most patients, this treatment of the fertility issue is a question of cost, and Mini-IVF takes less as compared to traditional IVF.
The cost of conventional IVF is much higher compared to the costs due to the rather colossal amounts used for fertility purposes as well as the many readjustments in the cycles of medication and the follow-up monitoring involved. As fewer drugs and monitoring are required, the cycle in a Mini-IVF is relatively cost-effective.
Please note that although
Mini-IVF is cheap per cycle, the patient is likely to go through several cycle of treatment to get a pregnancy at all since the number of eggs retrieved per cycle is so low. That could offset some of the savings achieved in the short term if further cycles require being done.
3. Probability of Success and Outcome
Although the general cycles regarding results with the aid of traditional IVF and Mini-IVF appear essentially similar the success of these techniques is pegged to how many eggs are retrieved, coupled with some of their individual fertility factors in a patient.
Traditional IVF: This method is more successful because more eggs are retrieved, thus having a greater number of chances of getting fertilised and hopefully developing into an embryo. With only a few embryos available, it is more likely that one would implant successfully in one or two attempts. Success rates for IVF vary but usually are between 30 percent to 50 percent per cycle for women under the age of 35. Women over 40 have lower success rates because the quantity and quality of the eggs diminish with age.
Mini-IVF: Mini-IVF has lower chances of success per cycle than traditional IVF since fewer eggs will be retrieved at the time, which could mean a smaller number of successful embryos. Success rates with Mini-IVF typically range from 20% to 35% per cycle for women under age 35, but it drops significantly with advancing years
Reviewed by
Dr. R Suchindra - Senior Consultant - Reproductive Medicine, Milann, Indira Nagar.
