What is Tandem IVF?

Tandem IVF is an ideal option for women of advanced reproductive age. This is because women in their 40s have a lower chance of conceiving using their own eggs. Fertility is affected by age and as a result, IVF success rates decline with the increase of age. Besides low ovarian reserve, which is the number of remaining eggs in a woman’s ovaries, women after the age of 40 may also experience a decline in their egg quality. However, this doesn’t mean pregnancy in your 40s cannot be achieved. In fact, women over 40 can conceive a healthy child if they are recommended an appropriate fertility treatment tailored specifically to their individual needs.

Our IVF clinic in North Cyprus is an international destination for male and female fertility care. EuroCARE IVF is a well-renowned fertility center for IVF, Egg/Sperm/Embryo Donation, and Gender Selection. In the frame of our highly successful IVF program, we offer IVF treatments for women over 40, and Tandem IVF is the most popular one.

Tandem IVF in Cyprus

Tandem IVF in Cyprus is a special procedure performed at our fertility center for women with a low ovarian reserve and/or poor-quality eggs. This treatment involves two IVF cycles – the egg donor cycle and the recipient (your) cycle.

Women with diminished ovarian reserve (a small number of remaining eggs in the ovaries) are suitable candidates for this treatment. Women with previous failed IVF cycles and women of advanced reproductive age can also benefit from Tandem IVF.

With Tandem IVF, you have the chance to use your own eggs to attempt pregnancy while keeping donor eggs as a back-up plan. This way, you will get two treatments in one, both maximizing your chances of IVF success and saving you time and finances.

Diminished Ovarian Reserve

Women are born with around 2,000,000 eggs. At puberty, most women have around 400,000 eggs. The number of eggs in the ovaries continuously declines over time. By a woman’s late 30s a woman will have around 27,000 eggs. After menopause, there will be no eggs left in their ovaries.

Diminished ovarian reserve is a normal part of the aging process in women. It is the loss of the reproductive potential of a woman due to a small quantity or poor quality of eggs. The exact age when the ovarian reserve will be exhausted varies from woman to woman. Some women still have good-quality eggs in their 40s, while others begin to lose their fertility in their 30s. Other factors that impact the ovarian reserve include genetic defects, cancer treatments, surgeries and injury.

What is a Tandem IVF Cycle

Tandem IVF Cycle refers to the IVF treatment where two sets of eggs are used to create embryos for implantation – your own eggs and your donor’s eggs. In Tandem IVF, both the female patient and the donor receive fertility medication to help synchronize their menstrual periods.

Before treatment, the female patient is required to undergo fertility testing to determine the cause(s) of infertility. The male partner is also required to have a semen analysis. Depending on your infertility history, additional testing may be required.

Tandem IVF cycle follows the same steps involved in the IVF treatment using ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection). ICSI is an effective method of fertilization of the eggs with the sperm in our specialized laboratory. The only difference is that you will be provided with an additional set of eggs obtained from a young donor, which will be used as a back-up plan.

• Matching

Patients are asked to fill out a medical form where they provide us with the following information:

– Physical features (skin, hair and eye color)

– Blood type and Rh-factor

– Picture

Based on the specifications provided in the form, our patient coordinator will offer you a few potential egg donors who have the characteristics and/or qualities you desire. Some patients also take into consideration a donor’s previous donation history. Most of our egg donors have successfully contributed to the pregnancy in past IVF treatments, and are usually re-invited to take part in a new egg donation cycle.

Tandem IVF Cycle Success

Success rates of Tandem IVF are very similar to the success rates of IVF with donor eggs. This is because the patient is provided with an additional set of eggs from a young, healthy donor whose chances of producing good-quality embryos that will result in a successful pregnancy and a healthy child are very high. The success rates of embryo donation in 2018 at the EuroCARE IVF clinic in North Cyprus were as follows:

IVF with Donor Eggs Over 40

If there is no ovarian function left, and there are no more follicles/eggs in the ovaries, then IVF with donor eggs is a better option. Egg donation is one of the most popular treatments at our clinic in North Cyprus. As a form of third-party assisted reproduction, IVF with donor eggs successfully treats a wide range of fertility issues that affect a woman’s ability to have children.

Who is an Egg Donor in Cyprus?

Egg donors are healthy young women between the ages of 21 and 28 who donate their eggs to other women to help them conceive as part of IVF. Our egg donors are selfless women who help individuals and couples overcome their fertility challenges.

Deciding to use donor eggs may not come easy for you. Stay assured that our donors are completely healthy, disease-free, driven and dedicated to helping others to become parents. All potential egg donors are required to undergo an extensive screening process, consisting of medical examination, fertility testing, psychological evaluation, and genetic testing.

All women who are part of our egg donation program in Cyprus:

• Are between the ages of 21 and 28
• Are non-smokers and are not drug users
• Have no family history of substance abuse or mental illness
• Have tested negative for sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV or Hepatitis B and C
• Have a normal body mass index (BMI) between 18 and 30.5
• Are willing to undergo an egg donor screening process
• Are willing to complete the egg donation cycle.

Process of IVF with Donor Eggs

IVF using fresh donor eggs is a multi-step process that involves:

• Menstrual cycle synchronization

When using fresh donor eggs, the egg donor and the female patient start taking fertility medication as prescribed by our EuroCARE IVF doctor. This is to make sure that the donor is prepared for the egg retrieval and the recipient will be ready for the embryo transfer once the eggs are retrieved and fertilized. To achieve synchronization, the recipient takes medication to stimulate the production of progesterone and estrogen. These two hormones prepare the uterus for the embryo transfer and for a potential pregnancy. While the female patient (recipient) is creating a favorable environment for the embryos to grow after the transfer, the egg donor takes gonadotropin injections to encourage the production of multiple eggs. Once fully grown, these eggs are used to produce embryos for implantation.

• Egg retrieval

Once the donor’s eggs become fully mature, an egg retrieval procedure is scheduled at the EuroCARE IVF clinic in North Cyprus. The eggs are retrieved by inserting a fine needle through the cervix and into her vaginal area. Within 15 to 20 minutes, multiple eggs will be aspirated from the donor’s ovaries. During the procedure, the donor is under general anesthesia.

• Fertilization

At this stage, our experienced embryologist will fertilize the mature eggs with your partner’s or donor’s sperm using an ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) method. In ICSI, single healthy sperm cells are injected directly into each egg. Fertilized eggs are then cultured for three to five days in our specialized lab. During this time, embryos get assessed by our embryologist on a regular basis to see how well they are developing. After the final quality assessment is done, two to three embryos are picked up and are inserted into the woman’s uterus using a preloaded catheter. We follow very strict rules when selecting embryos for transfer. Multiple factors affect our doctor’s decision about the date of embryo transfer and the number of embryos to transfer including embryo quality, stage of development, and maternal age.

• Embryo transfer

Once the best embryos are identified, the female patient (recipient) will undergo an embryo transfer procedure at our clinic. Embryo transfer involves placing the best-looking embryos into the womb of the patient. These embryos have a higher potential to establish a pregnancy and result in a healthy child.

Any extra good-quality embryos can be frozen for future IVF cycles. Here at EuroCARE IVF, we use vitrification to cryopreserve remaining embryos. Embryos are frozen at a super fast rate in order to preserve their quality and cause no damage to the cells.

Anonymous Egg Donor Impact on Child

Several studies showed that the baby’s genes are actually affected by the mother during the time of pregnancy. The endometrial cavity fluid, which surrounds the baby during pregnancy, contains microRNAs, molecules that influence the expression of certain genes. This discovery leads to the conclusion that the mother and the baby conceived with donor eggs develop a very strong biological connection, which influences the child’s genetics and development.

Advantages of Egg Donation in Cyprus

• Egg donation in Cyprus makes pregnancy possible for women after the age of 40.
• Egg donation at our IVF clinic in Cyprus successfully treats a number of fertility issues in women related to the egg production or poor egg quality.
• Our egg donation program gives you certain control over pregnancy.
• A successful pregnancy achieved by using donor eggs will make you feel more connected with the child.
• The EuroCARE egg donation program is available to you at a much lower price compared to other fertility clinics. Plus, our egg donation packages include hotel accommodation, private transfer, and other services.

Technological Advancements for IVF Over 40 Success

The field of assisted reproductive technology is rapidly progressing with many new advances that make IVF over 40 more successful than ever. Three big advancements in the reproductive field offer hope for women in their 40s including:

1. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a method of fertilization used in IVF treatments that involves injecting a single sperm cell into an egg. With ICSI, fertilization can be achieved with a few dozen sperms, which is ideal for men who struggle with male factor infertility. Since 1992, when this technique was first introduced, the need for donor sperm has been significantly reduced. Although ICSI was primarily designed to help men with severe infertility, over time it has become the main technique used for fertilization purposes in all IVF treatments in Cyprus.

2. Blastocyst Transfer

When fertilized eggs (embryos) are allowed to grow for five days in the lab, they become blastocysts. At this stage of development, embryos have about 60 cells as opposed to 4- to 10-cell embryos at the cleavage stage. Before transfer, a final quality assessment is conducted and the best embryos are selected for the transfer. Blastocysts allow the doctor to transfer only two to three embryos with the best chance of implantation. This also reduces the risk of multiple pregnancies.

3. PGS & PGD Testing

PGS (preimplantation genetic screening) and PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) are two genetic tests performed during IVF that screen embryos for chromosomal or genetic abnormalities. Chromosomally abnormal embryos have little potential to result in a successful pregnancy. PGS and PGD may be especially beneficial for older women as the rate of defects increases with age. These screening techniques improve pregnancy and live birth rates in IVF cycles, because only embryos with a normal chromosome number and arrangement are selected for the transfer.

IVF over 40 Success with Own Eggs

Pregnancy at 40 is definitely possible. Here at EuroCARE IVF, we want to make sure that your IVF treatment is as successful as possible no matter the age. Women over 40 have a higher chance of getting pregnant through Tandem IVF or Egg donation. Egg donation and Tandem IVF using donor eggs can help you increase the chances of conception.

IVF Success Rates over 40 with Donor Eggs

The chances of having a baby through IVF increases to 80% when fresh donor eggs are used. Women over 35 have a 70-80 percent chance of pregnancy success through IVF with donor eggs. The hundreds of families who have chosen to use donor eggs for their IVF treatment in Cyprus are proof that this treatment is a wonderful opportunity to experience the miracle of creating a new life.

How to Improve Egg Quality for IVF over 40

Although egg quality and quantity decline with age, there are still ways women after the age of 40 can improve the quality of their eggs. These include:

• Maintaining a healthy diet
• Taking a prenatal vitamin boost
• Avoiding strenuous or excessive exercise
• Managing stress
• Avoiding smoking, caffeine, and alcohol
• Trying acupuncture

Here you can find more information on how to improve egg quality for IVF success.

Tandem IVF at EuroCARE IVF

Donor eggs can help women overcome infertility at any age, especially for women in their 40s and beyond. Tandem IVF offers the opportunity to attempt pregnancy with your own eggs first, and use donor eggs as a back-up plan. Donor eggs can help you bring home a baby when it seems otherwise impossible. If you are wondering whether Tandem IVF might be the right treatment for you, don’t hesitate to consult with our fertility specialist. Our expert fertility team will help you make the right decision for you and your family.