FAQs before assisted reproduction

If you wish to become pregnant but it has not occurred after over a year of trying (or after six months if you are over 35), you should see a specialist in reproductive medicine.

Age is a determining factor in fertility. This means that if you are younger, you can put it off for longer, but if you are over 35 we do not recommend waiting too long. You should be aware that after that age, there is a clear decline in fertility.

Approximately 20% of couples of reproductive age have sterility issues. In Spain, there are about 800,000 couples who suffer from sterility.

Here at Ginefiv, we believe that sterility is an issue that is shared by the couple and it is essential for both the male and female to be involved equally in all stages of the diagnosis and treatment.

In any case, medical studies have shown that 50% of the time the cause of sterility is attributable to the female and it is attributable to the male 40% of the time. However, in many cases, the causes are mixed, i.e. attributable to both. In the remaining 10% of cases, we have to affirm that the sterility is of unknown origin, even after having run all the diagnostic tests.

An assisted reproduction clinic is a medical centre that is highly specialised in the methods for the diagnosis and treatment of sterility problems. It has modern facilities as well as staff who are highly qualified in the performance of the most advanced techniques in assisted reproduction.

When facing a sterility issue, it is always preferable to see a gynaecologist who specialises in reproduction, because the study of sterility includes tests which are not carried out in standard gynaecological examinations.

Before starting an assisted reproduction treatment, you should be aware that the chances of fertilisation and pregnancy depend on the circumstances of each couple and on the assisted reproduction technique being used. To find out about Ginefiv’s great results, you can consult our success rates page.

In the strictest sense, the currently accepted definitions are:

Primary sterility: when a couple has not become pregnant after a year of sexual relations without contraceptives.

Secondary sterility: when a couple, after having had a first child, is unable to achieve a new gestation in the following 2-3 years of unprotected sex. Primary infertility: when a couple achieves gestation, but this does not result in a newborn baby.

Secondary infertility: when a couple, after a pregnancy and successful birth, does not achieve a gestation which results in a newborn baby.

Before starting an assisted reproduction treatment, we will find out which sterility or infertility issue is applicable in your case and we will work with you on analysing the best way to deal with it.

You can book an appointment for your first visit to Ginefiv straight away.

Before starting an assisted reproduction treatment, a doctor who specialises in this field will assess your case and, depending on the results, they will recommend which tests you need to undergo to complete the study of your sterility.

It is important for you to bring the results of any prior tests, if you have them, so that we can begin your treatment as soon as possible.

If your diagnosis is clear and the analysis is complete, you can start your treatment immediately at the start of your next cycle.

If you are undergoing an oocyte reception treatment, you should be aware that Ginefiv has no waiting list to adopt oocytes from a donor, unless there a complication with the phenotype. Ginefiv benefits from having an extensive gamete donation programme, which means that we can find donors with a matching phenotype and a blood type that is compatible with the receiver and their partner.

Before starting an assisted reproduction treatment, you should know about some of the inherent risks. The main problem which may arise is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which is caused by the hormone treatment. This syndrome occurs because, sometimes, the female body overreacts to the treatments, producing an excessive number of eggs which in turn generates a certain amount of abdominal discomfort for a few days. In cases like this, we sometimes recommend stopping the medication to avoid any risks. In any case, the percentage of cases in which hyperstimulation occurs is very low nowadays, thanks to advances in stimulation protocols and lab techniques. Your gynaecologist will always warn you during your check-ups whether or not you are at risk.

In the worst of cases, you will be kept under observation in a clinic for those few days. To give you peace of mind, in our 35 years of experience in assisted reproduction here at Ginefiv, we have had no cases of patients suffering any serious consequences.

Furthermore, as we no longer use general anaesthetic in the majority of cases; the possible complications in this regard are also very unlikely. Another risk worth mentioning before starting an assisted reproduction treatment is the possibility of multiple pregnancy. Even though it is permitted by law to transfer up to three embryos to the same patient at the same time, at Ginefiv we almost always transfer one or two embryos only, to minimise this risk.

In in vitro fertilisation, if two embryos are transferred on day 3 of their development, the chance of multiple pregnancy is 20%. If you really do not want to take this chance, you can either transfer a single embryo on day 3 of development or wait until day 5 when it reaches the blastocyst phase, if the number and quality of your embryos permits this.

Thanks to the growing effectiveness of IVF processes, fewer and fewer embryos are needed to make a transfer that results in a healthy, full term gestation and therefore we are seeing a reduction in the frequency of multiple pregnancy.

Yes. Having monitored thousands of children all over the world who were born using these techniques (artificial insemination, IVF, thawed embryos, ICSI), it has been proven that they have the same risk of genetic anomalies, birth defects, etc. as the rest of the population.

It is only in certain forms of male sterility of genetic origin and when is used that there is a risk that the male sterility will be transmitted to a male child, meaning that the child will also eventually have to use this technique if he wishes to become a father.