Success Stories

2003-2005 Success Rate - Louisville Women's HealthCare

Each time one of our IVF patients becomes pregnant, we share in their joy. Continued improvements in IVF procedures and the increasing numbers of couples who come to us for help mean that more and more babies are conceived with our help each year. Here are a few of our success stories. You can also read an article written by the father of one of our successful couples [in pdf format].

Pitter Patter #1000 and counting!
Edward, Keaton, and Kendall

Keaton, our 1000th IVF baby, was delivered at 3:54 in the afternoon of a beautiful October day in 2004. Four minutes later, his sister Kendall was born. Number 1001. It might have been raining. It might have been sunny. No matter. The leaves were red and gold and it was a beautiful day for these twins, for their parents, and for us here at the Fertility Center. It was also a joyous day for the twins’ big brother E.J., born almost exactly two years earlier as our IVF baby number 746.

The mother of these children came to us because endometriosis and the removal of one fallopian tube had made it impossible for her to become pregnant without help. We were able to retrieve mature eggs, inseminate them with the father’s sperm, and return them to the mother’s womb as embryos.

The important numbers for this happy family are 1, 2, and 3, two brothers and a little sister. For us, the importance of the numbers is that we have been able to help so many couples achieve their dreams.

Two Bundles of Joy
Emily and Tyler

Emily and Tyler’s parents required IVF because of non-obstructive azoospermia as a result of cryptorchidism (undescended testicles). Although the cryptorchidism had been corrected, repeated semen analysis showed no sperm in the ejaculate. This couple chose to try IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection using testicular sperm retrieved from the father.

Emily and Tyler’s father underwent outpatient fine-needle aspiration of the testes in July 2002. That same morning, mature eggs were retrieved from their mother and injected with the father’s sperm. Embryo transfer was done on day 3, resulting in a positive pregnancy test eleven days later. Emily and Tyler were delivered in March 2003.

The Case of the Stubborn Embryo
Elise a.k.a. Sticky

Elise was born in April 2003. In August of 2002, eggs retrieved from Elise’s mother had been mixed with sperm and had produced three embryos. The three embryos in fluid were loaded into the tip of the embryo-transfer catheter, which was inserted through her cervical canal into the uterus. The embryo-containing fluid was deposited into the uterus and the catheter was removed. In the embryology laboratory, we discovered one embryo stuck to the catheter. The embryo was loaded into a new catheter and we made another transfer. After this second attempt, the embryo was again found stuck to the catheter. It stuck after a third attempt. It took four tries to transfer that embryo. Never before or since have we needed more than two attempts to transfer all the embryos.

No way to tell which embryo implanted successfully, but Elise has acquired the nickname Sticky.

We are grateful for all the faith our patients place in us and for an opportunity to assist these couples and others like them.

Our joy is in their joy.

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