The Fertility Revolution

A pioneer in Malaysia's fertility treatment offers his insight on two revolutionaryadvances that made a big difference in bringing hope to many couples who are unable to conceive naturally.

- Lim Teck Choon

LADIES FIRST

How urine led to significantly improved egg collection and IVF success rate

During the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process, eggs are collected from the woman and sperm from the man, and the fertility technician then picks the best egg to be fertilized by the man’s sperm in a laboratory. Therefore, Dr Haris points out that increasing the number of eggs collected can help boost the chances of a successful pregnancy.

First, let’s take a look at the hormones in the female body that trigger the release of eggs from the ovaries. These hormones are called gonadotropins, and two of them in particular affect egg production:

Follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), like its name would imply, stimulates the growth and development of eggs in the ovaries.

High levels of luteinising hormone (LH) also stimulate the release of a mature egg.

A Different Use for Urine

Since 1963, these gonadotropins have been extracted from the urine of menopausal women for use as medications during the egg extraction stage of the IVF cycle. Hence, they are called urinary gonadotropins.