Infertility Clinical Trials

Group Preconception Care for Fertility Patients aims to translate the well-established group prenatal care model to preconception care to improve pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. In partnership with Pomelo Care (a virtual maternity care program), the investigators are conducting this study using couples at Penn Fertility Care. Read Less

In this study, study investigators will collect embryo culture media on day 5 of vitro fertilization (IVF) culture, prior to vitrification and embryo transfer for testing via Metabolomic screening. Metabolomics is a new, non-invasive method of embryo selection which involves testing discarded embryo culture media for analytes secreted by the developing embryo. These analytes can be used to determine the implantation potential, and ploidy, of the embryo. This study will take place at multiple locations in the United States and Spain. Read Less

Ovarian reserve defines the quantity and quality of the ovarian primordial follicular pool. Diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) indicates a reduction in the quantity of ovarian follicular pool to less than expected for age. It is an important cause of infertility in many couples. To date, there is no clear consensus in the literature on the definition of diminished ovarian reserve, and it is unclear whether low oocyte yield results from an abnormal atresia rate of the follicle pool, or from a lower follicle pool at birth or whether it can just occur as a normal variation in the population. The ovarian response to controlled ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins (for example, for in vitro fertilization) is largely determined by the ovarian reserve, and there are numerous different ovarian stimulation protocols that are employed to try and increase the oocyte yield of a particular cycle. There is no consensus on which, if any, of these protocols are superior and preferred for patient with DOR. Luteal gonadotropin stimulation is a protocol of controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) for use in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) that has emerged over the past decade as an acceptable alternative to the classic follicular gonadotropin stimulation. The luteal estradiol patch protocol was introduced in 2005 in patients with poor response to controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) and to address the phenomenon of early follicle recruitment in patients with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). Luteal gonadotropin stimulation can potentially achieve the same effect by initiating follicular recruitment for IVF prior to the body's own premature recruitment. Our hypothesis is that the luteal stimulation protocol and estradiol priming protocol are equivalent with regard to the outcome of number of mature oocytes retrieved. Patients who will be undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation and who have a diagnosis of diminished ovarian reserve will be considered for this trial, and enrolled if meeting all inclusion and no exclusion criteria. Read Less

To determine if a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), Ketorolac (Toradol), can improve pain control and decrease narcotic use after undergoing egg retrieval. Read Less

This study aims to demonstrate a reliable method of selecting gender specific sperm. X-bearing spermatozoa and Y-bearing spermatozoa will be identified from the density gradient layers. The selected gender specimen will then be utilized for assisted reproductive fertilization- in vitro fertilization or intrauterine insemination which are routine standard of care procedures. Read Less

This is an observational longitudinal study to advance the understanding of menstrual cycle and gynecologic health conditions including PCOS, infertility and breast cancer.The study will be hosted within the Research app(available on App Store), which allows a user to find, enroll, and participate in Apple-supported health-related research studies. Read Less

During IVF cycles an embryo is generally placed into the uterine cavity between 3 and 5 days after fertilization. For a successful pregnancy to take place, that embryo must then implant in the properly primed and staged endometrium, which subsequently must continue to develop to accommodate the growing and maturing embryo and then fetus. This process is normally regulated by hormonal interactions between the fetal, endometrial and luteal tissue. It has been found that after IVF additional support for the endometrium with progesterone improves implantation and subsequent live birth rates in IVF cycle . Recent data has shown that additional supplementation with a single administration of a GnRH agonist around the time the time of embryo transfer may further enhance these rates . Read Less

Use of discarded embryos to advance laboratory expertise and technology in the area of human embryo development and assisted reproductive technologies Read Less

This is a randomized controlled trial comparing density gradient centrifugation and microfluidic sperm sorting in patients undergoing intrauterine insemination to evaluate cumulative pregnancy outcomes. Read Less

The main purpose of this study is to perform longitudinal evaluations of clinical outcomes and personal perspectives following utilization of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). Patients indicating willingness to participate in research during informed consent to perform PGT will be eligible for inclusion. A licensed genetic counselor will conduct a recorded interview. Read Less

Chromosomal aneuploidies are linked with spontaneous miscarriages and abnormal offspring in human pregnancies. In addition, some types of aneuploidies are reported to prevent implantation. Thus, there is a need to identify the embryos with highest implantation potential on in vitro fertilization (IVF) programs. Since embryo morphology and kinetics have a weak association with embryo ploidy, trophectoderm biopsy plus Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) is becoming a very popular approach to determine the embryo chromosomal status. This technique is called Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A). Although shown to be efficient, it is invasive for the embryo, requires specific technical skills and it remains expensive. Therefore, the development of a non-invasive, rapid and cheaper method for assessing embryo ploidy status would represent a progress in the field of IVF. The non-invasive approach has been explored by some groups that analyzed the Spent Blastocyst Medium (SBM) where the embryo was incubated up to the time of transfer or freezing. In daily routine, this media is discarded after finishing the culture of the embryo. Importantly, though, this media reportedly contains traces of embryonic cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that can represent the genetic load of the embryo. On the basis of that, the hypothesis of this study is that embryo prioritization according to the analysis of the embryonic cfDNA in the SBM could improve ongoing pregnancy rate in 10 percentual points compared to standard blastocyst transfer based on morphology. Read Less