Fertility treatment is a delicate process that requires sensitivity to meet the needs of every patient. Through on-going research and education, our expert team stays at the forefront of fertility advances and new technologies to help you reach your dreams of parenthood. Located in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), EuroCARE IVF is an all-encompassing IVF centre that consistently provides patients with the highest success rates (about 70% per cycle).
Mini-IVF in North Cyprus is an assisted reproductive procedure that uses lower medication doses to stimulate egg production. Just like any regular IVF treatment, Mini IVF involves multiple steps, including ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, egg fertilisation and embryo transfer.
Led by expert fertility specialists, euroCARE IVF is an all-encompassing IVF center located in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Our clinical success is achieved by positive patient testimonials, high recognition amongst our community of peers, and — by the precious babies that are now apart of the euroCARE family.
Minimal stimulation IVF (Mini-IVF), is a relatively new technique that offers a moderate version of ovarian stimulation compared to In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
Good Candidates for Mini IVF Cyprus
- People who have fear of needles (medications are used in the form of injections)
- Women with PCOS who are also at risk of developing OHSS.
- Cancer patients who want to preserve their fertility
- Women with low ovarian reserves. The infertility medications won’t produce high quality eggs.
Mini-IVF is also not an acceptable option if you need more eggs for freezing or donation.
What is the difference between Mini-IVF and IVF?
Understanding the difference between treatments can help you decide which could work best for you.
For the most part, Mini IVF (also known as micro-IVF), is similar to a standard IVF cycle. As with standard IVF, our fertility specialists monitor you throughout the cycle — perform an egg retrieval, fertilization of the egg and sperm occur in the lab, and an embryo transfer is scheduled.
The difference is the amount of medication used to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs. While a standard IVF cycle aims to produce a higher number of eggs for retrieval, Mini-IVF uses lower doses of medication to produce only a few eggs.
This minimal IVF treatment allows our euroCARE IVF specialists the opportunity to extract the best quality eggs using minimal medications. During Mini-IVF in North Cyprus, lower doses of gonadotropins may be used, with the aim of producing only a few eggs (Gonadotropins include medications such as Gonal-F, which is used to stimulate egg growth).
For some women, it is also possible to complete Mini-IVF treatment with no ovulation stimulation drugs. This is also known as a ‘natural cycle’. This would not be appropriate for patients if there are any problems with ovulation preventing pregnancy, however it may be an acceptable choice in cases of blocked fallopian tubes and in some cases of male infertility.
Besides ovarian stimulation drugs, you also may need to take a GnRH antagonist (Cetrotide) — which prevents ovulation from occurring too early. Essentially, before the doctor has a chance to retrieve the eggs from your ovaries.
Mini IVF Medication
In Mini IVF egg production is stimulated mostly with special medication although lower doses of gonadotropins may be used, with the aim of producing only a couple eggs.
In some instances no medication may be used to produce eggs. This treatment resembles the natural menstrual cycle and is also known as a “natural cycle.”A natural mini-IVF cycle may be a good option for patients with blocked fallopian tubes or in some cases of male infertility.
Another type of medication used in Mini IVF is GnRH antagonist (like Anatagon and Cetrotide), which prevents the eggs moving to the uterus too early. Ovulation is postponed with the purpose for egg retrieval to take place.
Women who have failed conventional IVF will have better chance of conceiving with lower doses of medication because of the high quality of produced eggs.
Risks Associated with Mini IVF
If you fail a few Mini IVF cycles, the costs can actually be greater in the long run. With Mini IVF, there are no embryos left for cryopreservation in comparison to conventional IVF, where you will have some embryos left over to freeze. Conventional IVF opens the opportunity for you to try another alternative treatment such as FET – frozen embryo transfer.
Another disadvantage of Mini IVF puts you at risk of having no eggs to fertilize because not every egg that is produced will survive the IVF process.
With conventional IVF, 10 eggs for example are retrieved, of which only three may become healthy embryos to transfer. In Mini IVF on the other hand only two or three eggs are produced and collected, and not all of them will survive the transfer.
A study shows that Mini IVF completely eliminates OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome), reduces multiple pregnancy rates, and reduces gonadotropin consumption. Compared with conventional IVF with double embryo transfer, Mini IVF with single embryo transfer lowers live birth rates. There is still resistance to use of minimal stimulation protocols because of the fear of having few oocytes. There is also a misbelief that minimal stimulation greatly decreases the chances for getting pregnant.
Pros of Mini IVF
The overall cost of Mini-IVF treatment is normally less than a standard IVF cycle. This is due to the lower medication dose and cost as noted. Mini-IVF also has a lower risk of leading to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).
While the cost is generally lower for Mini-IVF, if the cycle is not successful — the costs can be greater in the long run. With a standard IVF cycle, there are typically embryos left over to freeze, which can then be used during a frozen embryo transfer (FET), if needed. With a Mini-IVF cycle you are less likely to have leftover embryos for future cycles.
There is also a greater risk of having no embryos to transfer when using Mini-IVF. Not every egg that is produced will survive the IVF process. For example, in a standard IVF cycle, if 10 eggs are retrieved, it is possible that 7 may become fertilized, and 3 or 4 may become healthy blastocyst embryos to transfer/freeze. Therefore if you begin with a low amount of eggs and those eggs do not successfully fertilize or do not develop well enough in the laboratory, then the cycle may be lost.
The success rates for a standard IVF cycle are greater than with a Mini-IVF cycle. From your tests results, our euroCARE IVF specialists will be able to advise if Mini-IVF cycle is a suitable option for you and will be happy to answer any questions you have.Resources:
https://www.verywellfamily.com/what-is-mini-or-micro-ivf-1960214
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26259908
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4948065/