| IVF is far and away the most common of the high-tech fertility treatments, accounting for more than 99 percent of all assisted reproductive technology procedures. About 48,000 IVF babies are born each year in the United States. |
| Is in vitro fertilization for you? |
| IVF can help you conceive if you have ovulation problems or blocked fallopian tubes, if your partner has a low sperm count, or if other methods of treatment have been unsuccessful. |
| Treatment: What to expect |
| Near the beginning of your menstrual cycle, you'll take a fertility drug that stimulates your ovaries to develop several mature eggs for fertilization. (You normally release only one egg a month.) You may also need to take a synthetic hormone called Lupron to keep your body from releasing your eggs too early. |
| You'll visit your doctor's office or clinic often so she can monitor your blood hormone levels and take ultrasound measurements of your ovaries to detect when your eggs are mature. Once your eggs are mature, your doctor will give you an anesthetic and remove your eggs from your ovaries by inserting a needle through your vaginal wall, using ultrasound for guidance. Your doctor will then combine your eggs with your partner's sperm in a dish in a laboratory. |
| Two to five days later, each of your fertilized eggs will be a ball of cells called an embryo. Your doctor will place two to four of the embryos in your uterus by inserting a thin catheter through your cervix. Extra embryos, if there are any, may be frozen in case this cycle doesn't succeed. |
| If the treatment works, an embryo will implant in your uterine wall and continue to grow into a baby. In just over 30 percent of IVF pregnancies, more than one embryo implants and women give birth to multiples.) You'll be able to take a pregnancy test about two weeks after your embryos are placed in your uterus. |
| Length of treatment |
| It takes about four to six weeks to complete one cycle of IVF. You'll have to wait a few weeks for your eggs to mature. Then you and your partner will spend about half a day at your doctor's office or clinic having your eggs retrieved and fertilized. You'll need to go back again two to five days later to have them inserted into your uterus, but you'll be able to go home that same day. |
| Success rate |
| The outcomes of IVF vary drastically depending on couples' fertility problems and ages — younger women usually have healthier eggs and higher success rates. On average, you have a 35 percent chance of getting pregnant and a 28 percent possibility of delivering a baby with each cycle of treatment. |
| Pluses |
| IVF is the oldest assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure on the block — it's been around since 1978. So while other ART procedures are still relatively new, IVF has been used long enough for researchers to do extended health studies on the children conceived using this method. So far, no medical problems have been linked to it. |
| Also, researchers who examined the results of eight different studies conducted between 1989 and 1999 found that fertility drugs don't increase a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer, even if she takes the drugs for more than a year. This was a major source of controversy and concern previously. What's more, researchers are finding ways to improve IVF procedures for the future. |
| Minuses |
| Fertilizing your eggs outside of your body requires expensive lab work. |
| Also, because more than one embryo probably will be placed in your uterus, you'll have just over a 30 percent chance of having twins or more. Though many couples consider this a blessing, multiple fetuses increase your risk of miscarriage and other complications. Be aware that some doctors will advise aborting a fetus if you're in danger of losing them all. IVF researchers are working on techniques to prevent multiple fetuses. |
| Women who have difficulty getting pregnant have an increased risk of an ectopic pregnancy regardless of the way in which they conceive. As with all assisted reproductive technology treatments, IVF will boost your risk of having an ectopic pregnancy, too. This occurs when an embryo drifts up to the fallopian tubes or abdominal cavity due to abnormal tubal function and implants there rather than in the uterus. Your doctor will either prescribe a medication called methotrexate or surgically remove the embryo to prevent it from severely injuring you by continuing to grow. |
| Women who take fertility drugs sometimes develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a condition signaled by weight gain and a full, bloated feeling. Some women also have shortness of breath, dizziness, pelvic pain, nausea, and vomiting. OHSS occurs when women respond too well to fertility drugs and produce too many eggs. Their ovaries swell to several times the normal size and fluid accumulates in their abdominal cavity. Normally this resolves itself with careful monitoring by a physician and bed rest. But in rare cases, it can be life-threatening, and you may have to be hospitalized for more intense monitoring or treatment. |
| Also, recent studies show that babies conceived with the help of high-tech fertility treatments such as IVF may be more likely to have low birth weights and birth defects. But experts aren't sure whether it's the factors that cause fertility problems, such as age, or the treatments that are to blame. What's more, future fertility treatments may enable doctors to weed out unhealthy embryos before transferring them to patients. |
| For more information or if you would like to ask a question please contact us |
