hi i'm dr serena h chen i'm a
reproductive endocrinologist and
fertility specialist and i'm here to
answer your questions on twitter this is
fertility support
[Music]
at fertility unit asks do you know how
often you should have sex if you're
trying to conceive hashtag fertility you
don't have to have sex that much
actually twice a week so have two dates
a week because the good sperm will stick
around in the fallopian tubes for a few
days so if you have sex twice a week
then you always have some sperm in the
tubes waiting for the eggs so it's a
myth that you have to precisely time
intercourse
with the release of the egg or that you
have to have sex 10 times a day and that
makes your fertility higher it actually
doesn't i think you just get a little
tired at wondertramp asks does anyone
know if hashtag coven19 affects hashtag
fertility
asking for a friend everybody wants to
know the answer to this question and the
truth is covid19 does impact fertility
the vaccine does not which is why we
really want you to get vaccinated we are
asking all our patients trying to
conceive and pregnant to get fully
vaccinated because we know that the
vaccine has been found safe and people
trying to conceive both men and women
and safe in pregnancy we know that covet
19 the disease actually does have a
powerful negative impact upon your
fertility especially if you get really
ill if you're mildly ill you will
probably feel temporarily bad the sperm
count might go down for a couple of
months just like any febrile viral
illness but then you will recover you
might have irregular periods for a
little bit but then again you might
recover but severe disease can
have a more severe impact upon your
fertility at kaysikas asks okay guys
i've been watching nova on pbs a
fertility scientist just said on average
men today have about half the sperm
count our grandfathers did causes
environmental obesity chemicals etc
this is a fascinating question people's
sperm counts have been declining and i
would say compared to like say that like
the 1900s the average sperm count is
about
half that of what it used to be we don't
really know the reason why but certainly
things like toxins and the environment
and our lifestyle
probably have something to do with this
scientists are definitely working on
this because we can't have sperm
disappearing altogether the good news is
people are still making millions of
sperm i don't think we're going to
completely get down to zero for
everybody that soon but
i think this does emphasize that we
should
all try to lead a healthy lifestyle
and avoid toxins and egg freezing praj
asks does freezing or eggs mean that you
definitely want children in the future
or is egg freezing more about having the
option later on in life let me know your
thoughts mother nature kind of designed
us to have 10 kids by the age of 25
that's kind of how our
our bodies are designed 10 kids by the
age of 25 die of exhaustion by age 35 to
40. that's it obviously we don't do that
anymore people are you know going to
school they're getting jobs they're
living life and having babies later and
that means you're having babies when
your eggs are less fertile people are
really interested in freezing eggs to
try to preserve their eggs at a younger
age at fertility prego asks how come men
don't have a fertility clock
haha emoji men definitely have a
fertility clock you cannot delay
childbearing forever maybe you should
think about freezing your sperm before
you turn 40 because once you are 40 we
do see some higher risks for older men
having children with schizophrenia and
autism so you do seem to have a
fertility clock the quality of sperm
does seem to decline with time
at jenny jpel asks fun fertility
question of the day what's the
difference between artificial
insemination and facial insemination
hashtag actual question so facial
insemination doesn't actually exist
artificial insemination is the process
of putting sperm into
the female by any means other than
sexual intercourse it's artificial
you're getting the sperm in an
artificial way now there's a lot of ways
to do artificial insemination the way
fertility specialists typically do
artificial insemination we wash the
sperm get rid of all the semen because
the semen is the liquid it's like a
tidal wave coming out of the penis it
helps the sperm get out of the penis and
into the body or into the specimen cup
but that liquid we really don't need
when you have sex
all those
chemicals in the semen are filtered out
by the cervix and they do not go into
the fallopian tubes where fertilization
takes place we get just the sperm in a
tiny little droplet of fluid and we put
it in a little syringe this is called an
insemination catheter this is a
particular type of insemination called
iui intrauterine insemination and we
actually
put a speculum in the vagina and then we
see the cervix and this little tube goes
right through the cervix the vagina into
the cervix i don't know if this is
actually open
no this is not an actual working model
into the uterus
and then we inject
that little tiny bit of fluid in the
good sperm immediately are in the
fallopian tubes
hanging out waiting for the egg
and you might have a little leaking you
might have a little cramping you might
see a little spotting but you can get
right up and go we don't believe in
waiting that doesn't increase the
pregnancy rate at susie savagey asks why
does a single round of ivf cost fifteen
thousand dollars in the united states
and only two thousand dollars in turkey
six thousand in spain thirty three
hundred in india thirty one fifty in
russia
even seventy eight a hundred in mexico
one day big pharma will pay for their
crimes it is way too expensive in the
united states hopefully we can get
better insurance coverage but right now
it it does tend to cost a lot of money
the good news is that there are more and
more states passing laws to mandate
fertility coverage we are seeing more
and more companies cover it because hey
reproduction and problems with
reproduction should be covered right why
is it treated like it's like a nose job
like elective plastic surgery these days
reproduction is essential for the
continuation of the human race so i'm
with you it shouldn't be so expensive it
should be covered at daviandov asks so
how does a pregnancy test work well
activium dub i happen to have one right
here you can get them from the drugstore
or at your doctor's office and
usually the urine pregnancy test works
by you give a small sample of urine you
follow the directions you dip this into
the urine
and then wait for it to turn either
positive or negative it's actually
measuring something called hcg
human chorionic gonadotropin that's a
hormone that's produced by the placenta
if that is in your urine then it shows
that you're pregnant you can also get a
blood test at the doctor's office once
you once this turns positive we want you
to call us right away
at omi mithran mithrandir asks how does
someone sign up to donate their uterus
to somebody i don't want it and
transplants are possible send me the
signup sheet you're in transplants is
that really a thing yes it is it has
been done in the united states it's been
done in other parts of the globe it's
still kind of experimental so you have
to go to a big fancy center university
of pennsylvania cleveland clinic where
they are have a big team to do this type
of thing oh maybe this uterus needs to
be transplanted but yes uterine
transplants are possible
but most people that don't want their
uterus just go see their doctor to
discuss that at miragons asks is there a
law that puts a cap on the amount of
embryos doctors are allowed to implant
during ivf this is surprisingly hard to
google so asrm the american society for
reproductive medicine recommends that we
transfer only one embryo at a time
because one baby at a time is the
healthiest type of pregnancy twins can
be super cute but a twin pregnancy is
risky for both the mom and the baby we
are usually transferring just one embryo
with ivf ivf does have a higher
identical twinning rate so that's
probably one of the biggest risks of ivf
you could put one embryo in and there's
a two percent chance that you could get
two babies out if you conceive on your
own
the chance that your embryo splits the
chance that you have identical twins is
only 0.5
so
we should just put one embryo in those
are the current guidelines but it's not
actually regulated by law
at patrici
576-7099 asks what year was the first
test two baby born in america that was
december 28 1981 so she is 40 years old
this december 2021. her name is
elizabeth carr
and she's a big fertility advocate and
author test tube baby or
ivf baby in vitro fertilization was a
revolutionary treatment that has totally
transformed our field a field where we
really struggled to help people conceive
and did not have very much success to a
field where we can say if you can stay
positive
and healthy and mind and body and stick
with the program we can
help almost anybody have a healthy baby
at jetlag 91 a how much they pay for
semen at the fertility place asking for
a friend there's lots of great
commercial sperm banks out there they
probably
have different
rates
but
i do think you know they compensate you
well for giving the sperm you do have to
be prepared to
give some blood work and sign forms so
we can make sure you don't have hiv
hepatitis things like that we also want
to make sure that your sperm is healthy
and looks good and has good sperm counts
and and seems fertile and then i think
you're paid a
pretty good rate a few hundred dollars
at mama kmw 99 asks how long does it
take pregnancy symptoms to go away after
a miscarriage it usually takes about two
to three months you still have the
pregnancy hormones in your body and it
takes about two to three months for
those to clear out
at hrc fertility asks what is a
fertility doctor or fertility specialist
well i'm a fertility specialist it means
i am a board-certified ob gyn
obstetrician gynecologist and
sub-specialty trained in reproductive
endocrinology and infertility i see
people who
want to have a baby but are struggling
people who want to be proactive about
conception or people who want to freeze
their eggs at abomination
asks considering reciprocal ivf for
round two wife scared a retrieval any
tips
retrieval that means egg retrieval what
is reciprocal ivf ivf is in vitro
fertilization reciprocal ivf is a way
for two women to conceive where one
gives the egg and the other
carries the embryo they're being
reciprocal normally ivf is done in one
person you take the eggs out and then
you put the embryos in but this way you
have two people involved one's giving
the eggs and the other one is carrying
the embryo this is a great option for
lesbian couples who want to both be
biological moms
at tapia izzy asks egg freezing anyone
here gone through the process i haven't
actually frozen my eggs but i've been on
the other side of it for a lot of people
and egg freezing is becoming
more and more common and that's because
first of all egg freezing is much better
than it used to be we are really really
good at freezing eggs now there's a new
technique or new technology called
vitrification with a v
that's literally like plunging these
eggs down to super freezing cold
temperatures negative
195 degrees centigrade at that
temperature the molecules are literally
stopped in their tracks and now the eggs
yield pregnancy rates that are basically
the same as using fresh eggs because
we have figured out how to press the
pause button some insurance companies
cover it most of the time not it can
cost thousands of dollars so that's
something to think about you give
yourself injections with tiny needles
for about six to ten days you go to an
ivf center
you get an iv in your vein they give you
a little anesthesia
you go to sleep for about 10 minutes we
put a very small needle
into through the vaginal wall one on the
right side one on the left side then we
pull the eggs out five minutes for the
right ovary five minutes for the left
ovary all the eggs are out we put them
in the freezer you wake up you feel a
little crampy
you eat a little bit you walk around go
to the bathroom and then you go home
and your eggs are frozen i do think
all
women
who
are concerned about fertility concerned
about getting older
and
not ready to have a baby but think they
might want to in the future to think
about egg freezing as an option for
preserving their fertility it may give
you more options because your eggs are
their most fertile when you're under 30.
and we think the ideal time to freeze
eggs is somewhere between your late 20s
and early 30s at anathropology asks can
we stop calling pregnancy over 35
geriatric
absolutely why do people call
pregnancy over 35 geriatric you are
still young as you get older we do start
thinking about more risks
so age of the pregnant woman is
associated with certain risks and
doctors like to
know that they have to do different
things to lower those risks when they're
treating somebody over 35 but i totally
agree with you geriatrics seems kind of
insulting and i don't think is actually
accurate and i think probably some old
some old guy came up with that term so
yes let's get rid of it at ashley s
how much money do surrogates make might
be my calling in general the united
states i think this ranges from
25 30 000
to
over a hundred thousand depending upon
the surrogate and the individual
situation it can be a significant amount
of money but you're doing a really
significant thing
carrying a baby for somebody for nine
months
at
boobraddocks1 asks do couples check
their fertility level before getting
married
asking for a friend commonly
this is not done but what if you have
chronic medical conditions like what if
you've had cancer in the past or you've
had pelvic surgery or you have a family
history of infertility polycystic
ovarian syndrome endometriosis
or a genetic issue those are all things
you can talk with the fertility doctor
about to try to minimize your risks and
optimize your health
at the habanero chef asks sai why do i
have a fever every ovulation week like
proper proper fever chills high
temperature body pains cycles vary
enormously and there can be a lot of
different symptoms associated with your
cycle having said that i think if your
cycle symptoms are really bothering you
you should talk with your doctor about
it and your doctor should listen and try
to address things and not dismiss you
because you should find out what's going
on and i don't think you should suffer
every month
at
steppingwithn1 asks chronic stress can
negatively impact hashtag endometriosis
and hashtag fertility have you made any
lifestyle changes to reduce stress to
support your health and fertility share
tips the tips that i give my patients
with infertility and endometriosis is
you want to in general live an
anti-inflammatory lifestyle a healthy
lifestyle so getting good quality sleep
seven to eight hours every night eating
a lot of veggies avoiding sugar getting
regular exercise you don't have to be a
trim rat also having a healthy mind so
trying to not to avoid stress but to
learn how to handle stress in a positive
way
at music fan asks feel like i have no
control over my emotions all day today
i'm not on any ivf meds anymore so i
don't understand what's going on maybe
my own hormones trying to regulate
ivf
infertility ivf is a powerful process
and it does take a little time to
recover it can also be kind of emotional
because a lot of people going through
ivf
are suffering from infertility which can
cause a lot of stress so i think if
you're concerned please give your doctor
a call and get checked out those are all
the questions for today
remember
please talk to your doctor because this
is just information and not medical
advice thank you so much for watching
fertility support