There are no risks in not waiting the desired time interval. It is all about physiology and common sense. It takes the ovary about 70-80 days to recruit a new cohort of primary follicles and it takes the body 6 weeks to return to normal.

- Week 19 answers kindly provided by Dr. Stephan Volschenk -

A corpus luteum is called a cyst when the diameter is more than 3cm.They may rupture, leading to the leakage of free blood into the abdominal cavity. This is usually very painful and is due to the presence of the free blood in the peritoneum. The discomfort subsides over a period of about 72 hours, during which time the body absorbs the blood ,thus taking away the irritation of the membrane lining the abdominal cavity. ( peritoneum) Rupture of these cysts occur more often on the right side and may take place following intercourse. Due to the size and subsequent pressure inside the CL, rupture may be spontaneous.

- Week 17 answers kindly provided by Dr. Stephan Volschenk -

This is possible when there is an error in running the test, in other words a technicality from the lab. That is exactly the reason why one ALWAYS has to correlate the result with what you see on ultrasound. ( Almost as a backup safety net so to speak). The golden rule is to correlate and if still not satisfied, to repeat the test. The AMH test is very temperature sensitive and therefore a break in this temperature chain may lead to an inappropriate result.

- Week 16 answers kindly provided by Dr. Stephan Volschenk -

The answer to this question depends on whether it is a natural cycle or IVF.During a natural cycle some people will for instance ovulate at a mean diameter of 16mm. This is rare and usually an indication of ovarian dysfunction. During IVF however, one would ideally aim for at least 3 leading follicles at 17-18mm mean diameter. We also know that most follicles with a mean diameter of 15mm and more can potentially yield a mature oocyte.

- Week 13 answers kindly provided by Dr. Stephan Volschenk -

Whether doing AI or IVF, the optimum follicle size remains the same. The ideal size for AI is 18mm. During IVF the ideal time to trigger would be when the 3 leading follicles are between 17-18mm mean diameter.

- Week 13 answers kindly provided by Dr. Stephan Volschenk -

Having some empty follicles during oocyte retrieval must be clearly differentiated from the so called “empty follicle syndrome” The latter is a very rare and sometimes very controversial topic. From the point of view of having 25 follicles on ultrasound and only harvesting 4 oocytes, the reasons are generally one of 4:

1)The ovary is dysfunctional and therefore only 4 of the 25 follicles could actually  yield viable mature oocytes. (sometimes seen in severe PCOS patients)
2)Coasting took place to diminish the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, during which time many of the follicles were lost.
3)Triggering took place before most of the follicles were mature and ready for harvesting
4)Ovulation had already taken place or was in the process of taking place at the time of oocyte harvesting.

- Week 12 answers kindly provided by Dr. Stephan Volschenk -

This is a very controversial topic, especially nowadays with the advent of the so called “soft stimulation or minimal stimulation approach” However, as described in the literature, we aim to harvest between 8 to 12 oocytes per attempt. This is however dependent on patient age and ovarian reserve volume and is not always possible. As an average, we manage to harvest approximately 6 to 8 oocytes per cycle.

- Week 4 answers kindly provided by Dr. Stephan Volschenk -