Being diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) can be a devastating blow to a woman. Women with PCOS do not release eggs regularly, if at all, making fertility tracking nearly impossible. They may also face additional complications due to follicles that have built up on their ovaries. These can alter hormones, and prevent eggs from properly developing and maturing. This leads many families to start infertility treatment sooner rather than later. What options are available for women who have been diagnosed with PCOS?
Clomid: Many families and individuals turn to Clomid as their first way to kick-start ovulation. Working with a medical professional, they will pinpoint the first day of their menstrual cycle and start taking Clomid as directed. Then through natural methods or IUI, the families will try to achieve pregnancy. This treatment may be an effective way to build your family if it starts ovulation. It should be noted that side effects may include notoriously severe mood swings and irritability.
In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF): Doctors can be quick to recommend IVF as a next step for women who suffer from PCOS. By overstimulating the ovaries with a hormone called gonadotropin, doctors will retrieve all the mature eggs that develop. They will then fertilize the eggs, allow the resulting embryos to grow to the proper stage, and transfer one or two into their patient soon afterwards. If any excess embryos remain they will be frozen for later use.
It should be noted that patients with PCOS may be at a higher risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome following IVF, due to reactions to the hormone gonadotropin. If any embryos are created from the IVF cycle, it may be recommended by their doctor to skip a fresh transfer and freeze the embryos that were created. The purpose? To allow the woman to recover from the retrieval process and be better prepared physically for the embryo transfer procedure.
Embryo Adoption: Many couples consider embryo adoption as a great alternative to pursuing IVF or other fertility treatments. Through embryo adoption, couples who have remaining embryos from their previously successful IVF cycle can gift those embryos to a couple who is struggling to conceive.
Since the embryos are already created and frozen, women who struggle with PCOS can bypass the risk and side effects of other fertility treatments. Using donated frozen embryos has been very successful for women with PCOS. Embryo donation and adoption may be one of the fastest ways a woman experiencing PCOS can achieve pregnancy and bring home the baby they have been dreaming of.
To learn more about the process to adopt embryos, watch this webinar on YouTube that addresses the basics of the process and visit EmbryoAdoption.org.
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