The Fertility Institute

The desire to have a child is universal, but sometimes conceiving can be difficult due to biological, physiological, emotional, or other reasons. The goal of the Lis Fertility Institute is to help people who wish to be parents achieve pregnancy.

The Fertility Institute offers medicine's most advanced services, evaluations and treatments for fertility problems, with departments that cover:

  • In vitro fertilization (IVF): The broad range of best practice fertility services treats infertility, hormonal imbalances, reproductive organ structure issues, decreased sperm quality, and unexplained infertility. IVF and assisted reproductive therapy treatments include: ovulation induction, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)/micromanipulation, embryo cryopreservation, testicular biopsies, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and fertility counseling.
  • IVF laboratory services: The IVF lab supports fertility by performing egg fertilization, embryo incubation, cryopreservation, and PGD. The laboratory also performs research and development on embryonic stem cells to advance clinical and scientific understanding and to develop pioneering medical solutions.
  • Male fertility: Forty to 50% of infertility in couples is due to male-related factors. The Fertility Institute conducts testing and evaluations to determine whether infertility is due to the man's "part of the equation" and provides treatment to help resolve these issues.
  • Sperm banking: The sperm bank helps women and couples achieve pregnancy through sperm donation and implantation. The facility performs sperm testing, prepares sperm for insemination, and conducts male genetic and biological tests with the goal of promoting fertility.
  • Fertility preservation: For women of reproductive age with cancer who undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy, preserving fertility may be the only way to conceive a biological child at a later time. The Fertility Institute offers three preservation services: freezing eggs, cryopreserving embryos or freezing ovaries that contain eggs.
  • Egg donation for in vitro fertilization: This service is designed for women who have had recurrent pregnancy loss or women who cannot produce quality oocytes due to medical conditions, such as early ovarian failure or an autoimmune disease. In addition, women with genetic diseases that could prevent the birth of a healthy child and women who have undergone chemotherapy or radiation therapy can also benefit from donated eggs.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

The Lis Maternity Hospital IVF Laboratory is one of the largest in Israel and among the most advanced in the world. In vitro fertilization is the process of fertilizing eggs in laboratory conditions outside of a woman’s body, and reintroducing the embryo into a woman’s womb for growth to term. IVF is most commonly used when there are either mechanical reasons that the egg and sperm cannot meet and fertilize, such as blocked fallopian tubes, hormonal causes impeding ovulation, or issues related to sperm viability. In vitro fertilization services at Lis Maternity Hospital address a broad range of situations, including: hormonal imbalances, reproductive system structure and function, sperm quality, and unexplained infertility.

Each year, about 200 babies are born to parents undergoing IVF at Lis. All in all, thousands of families have delivered healthy babies with the help of Lis IVF services.

The IVF process includes 5 main steps:

  1. Inducing superovulation and monitoring it with blood tests and ultrasounds
  2. Harvesting oocytes from the patient’s ovaries
  3. Receiving sperm from the partner or a donor
  4. Incubating the egg with the sperm in optimal laboratory conditions for egg fertilization and embryo development
  5. Re-introducing the embryo into the woman’s uterus when the embryo has 4-8 cells - typically after 2-5 days of fertilization - for development until birth

 

In addition to providing a full range of IVF services, Lis Maternity Hospital specializes in a number of key services, including assisted ovum fertilization techniques (such as ICSI); cryopreservation of embryos, cells, and tissue; as well as banking sperm for future use. Lis's IVF laboratories also perform PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis): earliest-stage genetic testing on a single cell microsurgically removed from an 8-cell embryo, to avoid re-introduction of embryos carrying pre-existing genetic mutations.

IVF Laboratory services

  • ICSI—intracytoplasmic sperm injection—an IVF procedure in which the sperm is injected directly into the egg
  • Cryopreservation for embryos, eggs, cells, and tissues
  • Micromanipulation
  • Prenatal genetic testing
  • Development and testing of advanced reproductive procedures and technologies

Since chances of IVF success increase as the number of potential eggs for fertilization increases, superovulation induction using medication helps increase the number of eggs produced from the ovaries in a single cycle. Other medications also help prevent early ovulation (ovulation occurring before oocytes are fully mature).

In some cases of male infertility, it is possible to improve the chances of fertilization using micromanipulation: injecting the sperm directly into the egg with the assistance of a microscope. Once the egg is fertilized and the embryo has 4 to 8 cells—usually after 2 to 5 days—it is re-introduced into the uterus. This method works only with a single sperm per egg. It is appropriate for males with low sperm count or poor sperm quality. Each year over 100 babies are born to parents who have undergone this procedure at Lis Maternity Hospital.

Men experiencing low levels of sperm (azoospermia) can successfully father children by extracting testicular sperm (testicular sperm extraction, or TESE). Eggs are fertilized using ICSI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, an IVF procedure in which the sperm is injected directly into the egg. The embryo is subsequently re-introduced into the uterus. Lis performs about ICSI 40 procedures a year, with very high success rates.

Women undergoing medical treatments that can impact fertility, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, can preserve their option to produce children. A number of cryopreservation alternatives available at Lis Maternity Hospital include:

  • Egg preservation  – Preserving unfertilized eggs for future fertilization and implantation via IVF or surrogacy
  • Embryo preservation  – Freezing fertilized eggs for future personal IVF procedures or surrogacy
  • Ovary preservation  – Removing the ovaries via laparoscopic surgery and preserving them in liquid nitrogen for an unlimited period of time
  • Egg preservation - Since the number of eggs that a woman creates in her lifetime is finite, women who are not in a position to conceive due to health or personal circumstances can preserve unfertilized eggs for future fertilization and implantation via IVF or surrogacy.
  • Embryo preservation - Often, individuals or couples have additional embryos after undergoing fertility treatments. Embryos at different stages of development can be preserved for IVF treatment at a future time. 

PGD is a broad scientific and medical service designed to assist couples who are carriers of genetic diseases to deliver healthy babies. It involves genetic testing on a single cell that is microsurgically removed from an 8-cell embryo, in order to select genetically sound embryos for re-introduction and avoid re-introduction of embryos carrying pre-existing genetic mutations.

Fertility consulting

PGD is a broad scientific and medical service designed to assist couples who are carriers of genetic diseases to deliver healthy babies. It involves genetic testing on a single cell that is microsurgically removed from an 8-cell embryo, in order to select genetically sound embryos for re-introduction and avoid re-introduction of embryos carrying pre-existing genetic mutations.

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