My Reproductive Endocrinologist Has Recommended a Protocol That Uses Birth Control Pills. Why Would Birth Control Pills Be Used In IVF?

Birth control pills or, more correctly, oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) can be used as a part of the IVF stimulation protocol in several different settings.

First, in patients who are known or suspected to be high responders, OCPs may help mitigate the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS; see Question 63). Second, in patients without predictable regular menstrual cycles, OCPs can be used in combination with Lupron to initiate an IVF cycle. In our practice, we usually start OCPs in such cases after confirming with a blood test that the woman has not recently ovulated. Then, after 1 week on OCPs, we add Lupron. After 1 more week, we stop the OCPs and continue the Lupron and wait for withdrawal bleeding. Once a patient has bled, we begin the gonadotropin stimulation.

Some clinics use OCPs as part of the protocol for microdose Lupron (MDL) flare, traditional flare, or GnRH-antagonist (Antagon, Centrotide) cycles in the hope that pretreatment with OCPs will prevent one follicle from growing faster than the other follicles once the stimulation has begun. We have not routinely used OCPs with our MDL flare patients, as we have rarely had problems with the emergence of a single dominant follicle compared with the more common problem of oversuppression and a cancelled cycle. Given that prolonged OCP use can lead to oversuppression in low responders, we use these medications very carefully.