Deciding Between Minimal IVF And Conventional IVF

1 You will have an ovarian ultrasound during your initial visit at Bay IVF to count the number of antral follicles, seen as small dark circles, within the ovaries (AFC, antral follicle count). 

The AFC is related to the quality of the eggs. Ideally, there should be approximately 20 antral follicles in both ovaries combined. Too few or too many antral follicles indicate that normal-quality eggs may be infrequent or even absent within the ovaries.

There must be between 10 and 24 antral follicles in both ovaries combined for Mini-IVF. Women with too low or too high AFC do not properly respond to Mini-IVF ovarian stimulation. The majority of women will have 12 to 24 antral follicles.

2 FSH = follicle stimulating hormone, E2 = estradiol, estrogen

3AMH (Anti-Müllerian hormone) level reflects the quality of eggs; the result should ideally be between 2 and 3. Lower or substantially higher levels signify less than optimal egg quality.

The AMH level must be between 1.5 and 4.0 inclusive for Mini-IVF. Women with very low or very high AMH levels are not good candidates for Mini-IVF ovarian stimulation and should consider conventional In Vitro Fertilization.

4 Since the average number of retrieved eggs is expected to be lower in the Mini-IVF treatment compared with conventional IVF, there must not be a major degree of male infertility

 The male partner must be able to produce a sufficient number of living sperm (total motility 5% or higher and normal sperm morphology 5% or higher in the preliminary semen analysis at Bay IVF). This minimizes the risk that none of the eggs will fertilize.