Setting the Record Straight About NC-IVF

I am posting this recent blog by Dr. DiMattina which addresses some recent inaccurate information about Natural Cycle IVF that is circulating out in cyberspace.

DrG


Hello Everyone!

Recently, there have been many mistruths appearing on-line about our NC-IVF program. So, I am writing to set the record straight and provide you with honest information about our experience with NCIVF. As you well know, the internet provides a platform which all too often provides only one side of a "story" and unfortunately, far from reality too.

By way of background, because of our high success we experienced with our stimulated IVF program, in January, 2007, we decided to add a NCIVF program for our patients as most of our patients achieving pregnancy in our stimulated IVF program had only one or two embryos transferred. Thus, we believed that many of our patients did not require ovarian stimulation drugs and the high costs associated with stimulated IVF.

Six weeks ago, we submitted 4 papers describing our experience with NCIVF to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine(ASRM) annual meeting in October, 2010. All 4 abstracts were accepted by ASRM. First, let me say that after 3 and a half years of performing NCIVF, we remain most enthusiastic about the success of our program and especially so for 2010.

So, here are some of the facts about our NCIVF program from 2007 to 2009 as presented to the ASRM: First, on-line there are individuals claiming that most of our patients never made it to an egg collection and instead they underwent an IUI rather than the intended egg collection. The FACT is: 86% of our patients who started our NCIVF program went to egg collection and an egg was retrieved in 88% of these patients. So, the vast majority of our patients not only made it to an egg collection but also had a successful egg retrieval. IUI occurred in less than 15% of our patients! And successful embryo transfer occurred in 56% of the patients who had an egg obtained. Overall, 35.3% achieved a clinical pregnancy per embryo transfer. In my opinion, not bad for only one egg and one embryo! Cumulatively, of course, with more embryo transfers, the total pregnancy rate is even higher. In fact, our very first patient to deliver from our NCIVF program, delivered again last year from a repeat NCIVF treatment.

Second, misstatements were made concerning our costs and profit motives. We currently charge $4,400 for a completed NCIVF treatment and it is prorated. If a patient does not make it to an egg retrieval, then the cost is prorated to $1,400 and the rest either refunded to the patient or credited towards another treatment. In our NCIVF program, we routinely perform ICSI without an added charge since there is only one egg. Compare these costs to a stimulated IVF cycle where the drugs alone cost about $5,000, the treatment cycle itself about $9,500 and another $1,500 to $2,000 for ICSI. Thus, the total costs for a stimulated IVF cycle can be $15,000 or more. In my opinion, DF is not only cost conscious for our patients, but the most cost conscious fertility center in town since we were the first and perhaps still the only IVF center in the Washington DC area to offer and produce babies using NCIVF. Interesting to me that NCIVF is routinely performed in over 50 countries around the world but not so in the US.

Critics of NCIVF say that it may take many treatments before one achieves pregnancy. The FACT is: 64% of the pregnancies that occurred in our NCIVF program were achieved in the FIRST treatment cycle and 21% in the second. So, we usually only recommend one to three treatments of NCIVF to our patients.

So, here is the truth about our experience with our NCIVF program and we are most proud of our accomplishments and success. NCIVF is not a "cure-all" for infertile couples, rather another option for many. I wish all of you the very best in obtaining your fertility goals.

-Dr. Michael DiMattina