In this video, Silvia Azaña, an embryologist at inviTRA, talks about possible solutions for low responders:
Currently, more experimental techniques are beginning to be used to address cases of low ovarian response, such as ovarian renewal. Nevertheless, beyond these more experimental choices, there are various alternatives available for women experiencing poor ovarian response during fertility treatments.
Converting an IVF cycle into an IUI cycle.
If only one or two follicles are clearly observed during an ultrasound scan, the option of converting the in vitro fertilization, or IVF, cycle into an artificial insemination cycle may be contemplated. This is only possible when the other factors are taken into account and provided there is no severe male factor present.
Pre-treatment with androgens.
After having undergone a low response ovarian stimulation cycle, a specialized androgen pre-treatment may be attempted to try to obtain a greater number of follicles in the stimulation.
These treatments may involve the use of transdermal testosterone or with DHEA, although its efficacy in these cases has not been proven.
Egg accumulation with vitrification cycles.
In order to obtain a greater number of eggs in the laboratory, which increases the probability of obtaining viable embryos for transfer, several cycles of oocytes accumulation would be performed.
It consists of vitrifying all the eggs obtained in each cycle, until you get an optimal number. It is then that they become devitrified, combined with the mature eggs obtained in the last puncture, an ICSI is done to fertilize them.
It is also entirely possible to carry out this same egg accumulation strategy by performing two stimulations in the same cycle, which is known as double stimulation.
And finally, egg donation.
When several cycles of IVF have already been cancelled due to low ovarian response, the most successful alternative would be egg donation or ovodonation.
In in vitro fertilization using egg donation, the eggs provided by an egg donor are fertilized with the sperm of the recipient woman's husband.
This particular reproductive option boasts very high success rates, but it carries the major disadvantage of having to give up the woman's genetic load and also its high cost.
Considering the current trend of delaying motherhood among the general population, egg donation is a practice that is currently used by all assisted reproduction clinics. As the woman's age increases, the quantity and quality of her own eggs decrease. For this specific reason, egg donation may become absolutely necessary to achieve pregnancy in the case that the woman has not previously preserved her eggs.
