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Shawnee Mission Medical Center to Host Live Panel Presentation on Reproductive Medicine and Infertility on March 25

MERRIAM, Kan. – On Thursday, March 25 at 6 p.m., medical experts from Shawnee Mission Medical Center will present a live one-hour panel presentation on reproductive medicine and the most advanced technology and procedures available. Daniel Stewart, MD; Colleen Milroy, MD; and Andrew Weston, PhD; will answer questions live from the audience, while Vice President of Spiritual Wellness & Human Development, Peter Bath, DMin, moderates the session. In-vitro fertilization (IVF), egg retrieval, embryo transfer and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), will be among the topics discussed.

Nearly one out of every six American couples experiences difficulty achieving pregnancy. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), a couple is considered infertile if they have not become pregnant within 12 months of stopping contraception. Statistics show that one-third of infertility issues reside within the female; one-third within the male and one-third are a combination of issues related to both partners. 

With IVF, the eggs are taken from the female and fertilized in a laboratory with her partner’s sperm. According to ASRM, more than 70,000 babies have been born in the US as a result of all assisted reproductive technologies, including 45,000 from IVF.

“With in-vitro fertilization, all I’m doing is removing the eggs, mixing them with sperm and then putting the embryo back into the uterus in the same place it would normally go,” said Stewart.

According to Weston, the eggs have a certain period in which they can be inseminated. Although the embryos can be transferred within two to three days of insemination, there is an advantage to waiting until day five.

“By waiting five days, we have more criteria in which to select embryos by and have more to judge based on the developmental rate. I like to think of it in terms of a race. The longer the race, the more you can separate the fast runners from the slow runners. In our situation, waiting longer helps us select the fastest developing embryos, which has appeared to be beneficial.”

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