When is GIFT or ZIFT the better treatment option as opposed to normal IVF? I always thought that GIFT / ZIFT was ‘old fashioned’ but I see some doctors still seem to prefer doing it as first option rather than IVF. Why would a doctor choose to do a GIFT vs an IVF?
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008GIFT and ZIFT were how artificial reproduction got off the ground many years ago. It was done purely because in those days, the quality of the laboratories were poor and did not match the intra uterine environment, i.e. embryos did poorly in that environment. However, as the years went on, the laboratory environment improved substantially in leaps and bounds to the point that today, there is very little difference between the uterine and laboratory environment in the first 5 days of embryo life. For that reason GIFT and ZIFT fell out of favour, and unfortunately the art of performing the procedures as well. There are however, still circumstances where GIFT or ZIFT might be a better option for the couple than routine IVF. These would be couples who have had multiple IVF failures for no apparent reason, couples whose embryos repeatedly fragment in the incubator due to the stress of being handled on a daily basis and older women over the age of 41. It is therefore indicated mainly in the poor prognostic group of patients.
- Week 5 answers kindly provided by Dr. Stephan Volschenk -
