Key Takeaways:
- Maintain performance: Switching to a hormone-free IVF program doesn’t mean having to give up oocytes, embryos, or pregnancy rates.
- Save time and money: Making the transition away from FSH-stimulated IVF leads to simpler processes and more affordable bills each month.
- Leverage data: Accelerate your herd’s progress by utilizing data to introduce more predictability and improve strategic decision-making.
In-vitro fertilization (IVF) technology has been around for decades in the cattle industry. But hormone-free IVF programs are more recent. And just like with any new technology or idea, there are several widely held misconceptions about the practice.
However, these assumptions could be holding your operation back. If you’re thinking about introducing your cattle to a hormone-free IVF program, here are a few common myths and the facts you need to know to make the right decisions.
Myth #1: Hormone-free IVF is less effective than traditional, FSH-stimulated IVF and it leads to fewer oocytes and embryos
The data is clear: IVF works, including without the use of stimulating hormones. To dive fully into the numbers, check out all of Vytelle’s performance metrics by downloading the 2024 Global Pregnancy Summary.
At the end of the day, any IVF program is still working with a donor’s biology. Cows still have their own estrous cycle, and regardless of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) influence, those cycles will continue to produce many follicles that can be fertilized.
One difference between FSH-stimulated cows and the cows who go through hormone-free processes is the initial maturity of oocytes. With a stimulated cow, high FSH doses force an unnatural growth and maturation of the ovary follicle. In Hormone-free IVF, we harvest each follicle during its own natural process of recruitment and maturation. Then, Vytelle’s proprietary oocyte maturation media is the equalizer that closes that gap and gets oocytes ready for fertilization.
“We collect a cow, then those oocytes are pulled out, sorted, and go into our IVF maturation media,” said Joe Mancino, Vytelle’s Director of Regulatory and Reproductive Services. “That’s what prepares those oocytes so they’re ready to be fertilized the next day.”
After fertilization, not every embryo is created equal. With FSH-stimulated IVF, it’s possible you end up with a few more embryos. But it’s also likely a larger portion of those will be lower quality Grade 2 embryos instead of Grade 1. With the hormone-free Vytelle ADVANCE™ process, more embryos will be Grade 1.
Myth #2: Hormone-free IVF leads to less predictable results
IVF is a numbers game. And there are patterns and insights within those numbers. You just have to make sure you collect, organize, and analyze that data effectively — or work with experts who can.
“Vytelle is a data-driven company, so we have good data about how donors and sires perform within our system,” Mancino said. “With all that data and donor history, we can predict with pretty good accuracy of what they’re going to produce.”
Myth #3: Without hormone protocols, the IVF process is more complicated
We are all generally resistant to change and reluctant to try new things. If you’re accustomed to a typical hormone-stimulation process, any change to the status quo might at first seem complicated.
But the absence of a hormone protocol actually makes things simpler. For starters, there’s no shot schedule. Some hormone protocols might only include a couple of shots. But at the more extreme end, animals could get up to eight shots. That means bringing cows in, morning and night, for multiple days.
With a hormone-free procedure, none of that is necessary. “We have donors who are out on stalks or out on pasture, and they get brought in that morning for a procedure that lasts about 15 minutes,” Mancino said. “Then they’re back on a trailer and back out to pasture.”
With Vytelle ADVANCE, there’s no extra setup logistics or labor. Just easy, in-and-out processes that get your cows back to being cows as quickly as possible.
Myth #4: Hormone-free IVF is more expensive in the long run
If you ask for an itemized receipt from traditional, FSH-stimulated IVF programs, it’ll likely be long. With some IVF service providers, the embryo itself might appear less expensive. But when you factor in all the extra fees for aspiration, drugs, freezing, and more, that perceived cost advantage evaporates quickly.
At Vytelle, that itemized receipt would only be two lines long: a satellite chute fee and the number of Grade 1 embryos that were actually produced. That’s it. That math matches Vytelle’s invoice to what matters to customers – quality embryos ready for transfer
Myth #5: To go hormone-free, you have to give up performance
You want to make as much genetic progress as you can. Transitioning to hormone-free IVF doesn’t mean giving up that goal. In fact, it might even help you reach it faster.
When you combine Vytelle ADVANCE with Vytelle’s extensive database, you can make more informed mating decisions within your program and make even more progress within your herd.
It’s also important to be realistic at the beginning and not over-interpret performance on the first go. If a donor has gone through FSH protocols every two weeks for the last few years, the results might be a little different. But over time with repeated collections, results show the benefits of the approach and lower stress on the donor.
“I usually tell folks ‘don’t judge donors on the first collection’,” Mancino said. “I like to see them at least twice, if not three times, before we can figure out what they’re going to do.”
Don’t let myths about hormone-free IVF hold your herd back
See how Vytelle ADVANCE is transforming operations like yours. Schedule your next OPU, or reach out to our team.