Common Methods of Fertility Treatment

Women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer have a higher risk of infertility than those who are not. Having a baby after your ovaries stop making eggs is still possible by trying one of these methods.

Harvesting Eggs

First, you can extract mature eggs prior to starting treatment for your breast cancer. Each cycle, only one or two eggs will be removed if there is no use of fertility drugs. With fertility drugs, up to eight eggs will be harvested. The problem is that fertility drugs will increase estrogen production in the body and cause breast cancer cells to grow.

In order to regulate the body's estrogen levels and to stimulate ovaries for egg production, scientists are researching tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors for use with or without conventional fertility drugs. When tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors are used, they are administered at heavy doses for a period of a couple of days. Considering they used to be administered at low doses over a long period of time, this is very different from how they've been used in the past for breast cancer. This fertility treatment is still in its experimental phase.However, research is showing that these drugs do boost egg production and do not increase the risk of a recurrence in breast cancer, but it's only known that will be the result for just the first few years after treatment.

In Vitro Fertilization

The extracted eggs are able to be fertilized in a test tube with your partner's or a donor's sperm. In vitro fertilization is what this method is known as, that or IVF. The process is done in a laboratory instead of inside your body. Once the fertilized eggs grow into small embryo, they are frozen.

The embryos are implanted in you uterus after breast cancer treatment as long as your ready to be pregnant and your periods have not come back. To prevent the risk of a pregnancy of more than twins, most clinics only transfer two embryos at a time. Implantation and development might successfully begin with these embryos.

Ovarian Tissue Freezing

Removing the parts of your ovaries containing unripe eggs and freezing them is another experimental fertility treatment. The ovary tissue is placed back in your body when you are done with cancer therapy and feel ready to try to get pregnant.

Strips of ovary tissue will be transplanted through your pelvis or your arm after they have thawed. The development of new blood vessels is the hope of this procedure since they will possibly make the tissue produce hormones and ripen the eggs. Eggs will be removed for fertilization and then placed back into the uterus after the are ready for ovulation. At this point, few embryos have been made in this manner. This technique has yet to conceive a baby.

Eggs from Donors

If you make the decision not to have your eggs or ovaries removed and frozen, you may try for donor eggs. Fertilization of donor eggs can happen through the sperm of your partner or a donor and placed inside your uterus. Find more details about this from invitro fertilization arizona.

Can Theses Fertility Treatments Help You?

Each center has a different level of success rates with the aforementioned treatments. Success can depend on your age as well. The younger you are, the more probable it is for success. These fertilization treatment options are unlikely to work if you are over 40.

Regardless of age, the more eggs and embryos harvested, the greater the chance is of you getting pregnant in the future.

Check for the success rate of the fertility centers you are considering before going to one. Women under 40 have a chance of up to 50% at the best fertility centers, while women older than 40 have less than a 20% chance of success.

When fresh embryos are used the chances for pregnancy are much higher than if frozen embryos are used for fertility treatment. If your are a woman who is going to start breast cancer treatment, you will need to put your eggs away and have them frozen for later... more info.

You may also find more facts from http://www.fertilityclinicarizona.com.