Why choose a tandem IVF cycle?
Making the decision to use donor eggs is a difficult and emotional choice that has an effect on both partners. We here at Miracle IVF understand this emotional decision and therefore we have an option to collect your own eggs and donor eggs and fertilise them at the same time. This option gives you the reassurance that you will have healthy embryos to transfer at the end of the treatment cycle, whilst also knowing we will always transfer your own embryos where possible.
This option is particularly useful if you have found your ovaries do not respond well to the stimulation medication used in IVF. During a tandem cycle, both mother and donor undergo IVF treatment to produce more eggs than a classic cycle. You can then select the best embryo for embryo transfer.
We offer this treatment for older women, women with diminished ovarian reserve levels or women who do not respond well to stimulation medication.
If you are interested in completing a tandem IVF cycle, please do not hesitate to contact one of our international patient coordinators, who will happily answer any questions you may have, and help you plan your treatment cycle.
How does it work?
Overall, the treatment is the same as a standard IVF cycle. You will need to start taking hormone injections 8 days before you come to the clinic. These medications stimulate your ovaries to produce more eggs than normal. Upon arrival at the clinic, we will perform an ultrasound to check how your ovaries have responded to the medication, and also look at your uterine lining to ensure it is ready for embryo transfer. It is important that you are having regular menstrual cycles in order to go through tandem IVF, otherwise egg donation is a better option for you.
Once your follicles have reached the desired size, you will be given a ‘trigger’ injection. This prepares your eggs for collection approximately 36 hours later. All the collected eggs (from you and your donor) will then be fertilised with your partner’s sperm. Your embryos and those from the donor are kept separate whilst being cultivated in the lab. Our Embryologists will monitor the fertilised embryos, and we will update you on their progress.
The decision about which embryos to transfer is yours and you can choose between: your donor’s embryos, your own embryos, or a combination of the two.