Out of Area Patients

Our goal is to provide the highest quality reproductive care. In doing so, we are only able to provide treatment to patients who reside within the United States.

The outcome of Soft-IVF treatment depends primarily on the egg quality. It is important to make sure that normal quality eggs can be produced by the ovaries before a potential out of the San Francisco Bay Area patient arrives at Bay IVF Clinic for treatment.

Out-of-area patients interested in the Soft-IVF treatment will need to go through the following steps:

• You must be 40 and 11 months or younger by the time the treatment starts.
• You must have regular menstrual cycles between 21 and 35 days.

• For an adequate Soft-IVF ovarian response and your safety during the egg retrieval procedure, your weight must be no greater than 150lb. If your height is less than 5'3", your weight must be no higher than the following limits:

   

 

• Before your initial visit to Bay IVF can be scheduled, you need to have a preliminary ultrasound examination of your uterus and ovaries. If your uterus has any myomas (fibroids), we need to know their size and location.

  We also need to know the number of ovarian antral follicles greater than 4 mm for each ovary and the presence of any ovarian cysts or masses. Please have the ultrasound report available when calling to schedule your initial visit at Bay IVF.

• On one of the first four days of your menstrual cycle, have your Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), estradiol (estrogen), and Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) levels measured. You should have these results available when calling Bay IVF to make your appointment.

  Your FSH and estrogen levels must not be significantly elevated. Please see Soft-IVF Prerequisites for the required FSH and estrogen levels.

• The total number of antral follicles in both ovaries must be between 10 and 24. If there are 25 or more follicles in both ovaries combined, or if your AMH level is greater than 5.0, the risk of severe ovarian hyperstimulation is too great for you to be treated in an out-of-your-area fertility clinic 

  The symptoms of ovarian hyperstimulation peak one to two weeks after egg retrieval and embryo transfer. During this period of time, you would be require several immediate visits to our clinic.

• A preliminary semen analysis must show a minimum of 5% motile sperm, and the sperm normal morphology must also be at least 5%. Otherwise, conventional IVF, which commonly results in a higher number of eggs available for fertilization, will be a better option for you.

• Pathogen testing is required by the State of California. You and your partner (if applicable) must be tested for Hepatitis B-Surface Antigen, Hepatitis C-Antibody, HIV I&II, HTLV I&II, and RPR. Please have these results available when calling Bay IVF to make your appointment.

• If all your test results are normal, we will schedule your initial visit with us, which will include a pelvic ultrasound, measurement of the uterus, sonohysterogram, and a semen assessment by our embryologists.

  Your treatment can begin as early as your first menstrual period after your initial visit. We will develop your treatment schedule, which will show the dates of your ovarian stimulation and the approximate dates of your egg retrieval and embryo transfer procedures.

• Please note that if your ovarian ultrasound examination during your initial visit at Bay IVF shows a total of nine or fewer antral follicles, the ovaries may not respond to Soft-IVF ovarian stimulation, and you should consider the conventional In Vitro Fertilization treatment instead.

  If your initial visit ovarian ultrasound shows 25 or more follicles within both ovaries, regardless of the number of antral follicles on your preliminary ultrasound, the risk of severe ovarian hyperstimulation is too great for you to be treated in an out-of-your-area fertility clinic.

• For the first approximately two to four weeks (depending on your treatment schedule), you will be taking oral contraceptives. Since there are no clinic visits during this time, you do not have to stay in the Bay Area.

• After approximately two to four weeks, ovarian stimulation will begin, followed by the egg retrieval procedure. Ovarian stimulation will take approximately one to two weeks to complete. During this time, you will need to be available to visit our Clinic regularly.

• Once you have had your embryo transfer (or the day after egg retrieval for egg donors), you can travel out of the area. Your pregnancy test two weeks later can be performed at a local laboratory of your choice.