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In vitro fertilization, or IVF, has helped countless women around the globe get past their infertility, and get pregnant. But a single cycle of IVF tends to cost upwards of $20,000; taking into consideration the fact that it’s rare for women to get pregnant on their very first IVF cycle, this treatment often ends up costing couples a bomb.
Here’s the good news: a company based in the US, Univfy, is said to be able to maximize a woman’s chances of conceiving via IVF. How do they do that? By offering more accurate predictions about their likelihood of these women’s success. Founder Dr. Mylene Yao, who’s an obstetrician-gynecologist, says that the Univfy PreIVF report the companies generates helps to assess a patient’s risk factors, and in doing so, determine her chances of conceiving via IVF.
Where can you get a Univfy PreIVF report?
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Univfy partners with IVF clinics across the US, and uses patient data from these clinics to develop predictive reports tailored to individual patients. 12 IVF clinics in the US are currently using the reports, and there are 50 more who will start doing the same this year. Whilst Univfy is not available outside the US as of now, consumers abroad may still access the free tools and online calculators that Univfy provides on its website.
How does Univfy predict whether a woman is likely to get pregnant?
In a nutshell, the company employs machine learning techniques to map the likelihood of a patient conceiving over the course of three IVF cycles. Factors which are taken into consideration include maternal age, body-mass index (BMI), hormone levels as well as the fertility of the patient’s partner.
Before this technology was available, IVF clinics had no choice but to set up thresholds or cutoffs – for example, rejecting women who were over the age of 38, or with a BMI larger than 35. With this new technology, however, the clinics can now ascertain the specific probability that each individual patient will achieve successful pregnancy with IVF, and they no longer need to rely on artificial thresholds.
Getting a refund on your IVF treatment
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On top of allowing patients to better understand what their chances of conceiving via IVF are, Univfy also allows IVF clinics to set up a refund policy for their patients. Dr. Tamer Yalcinkaya, founder at the Carolinas Fertility Institute, champions this movement, saying that for patients who are so inclined, “cost of a refund policy can be calculated, and the amount of refunds can be estimated according to an accurate prediction”. Dr Yalcinkaya states that it’s common for couples to be concerned about spending such a large sum of money, and that allowing some sort of insurance in the form of a refund policy goes a long way in alleviating couples’ fears about the process.
Fertility consultation with BeNatural’s fertility coach, Marie Otsuka
If you and your partner would like to learn more about conceiving, come down for a 45-minute consultation with Marie Otsuka, BeNatural’s fertility coach. In this session, Marie will seek to understand the couple’s situation, and offer insights she’s gained through her 10 years of experience in working with infertile Singaporeans. Slots are limited and on a first come first serve basis; contact us here to schedule an appointment!
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