“IVF treatment is a blessing to those who can take the step of faith.”

Louise Brown’s 1978 birth in Oldham, England, was heralded as miraculous. She was the world’s first test-tube baby, indeed a medical miracle. In a laboratory Petri dish, an ovum from her mother had been combined with sperm from her father, incubated for a few hours, and then implanted into her mother, where Louise matured until birth.

This whole process is known as in vitro fertilization. It is one of the amazing possibilities of modern medical technology, designed to assist couples who have trouble conceiving or carrying their offspring to term.

However, IVF is an infertility treatment of last resort, tried when other less-expensive techniques haven’t worked. Women younger than 35 years have a better chance of having a baby using in vitro fertilization. But to determine who might benefit, doctors need to investigate the causes of infertility.

What is the IVF procedure?

IVF is the most suitable treatment. IVF is the most effective form of assisted reproductive technology currently available.

IVF stands for in vitro fertilization. It’s one of the most widely known assisted reproductive technologies (ART). During IVF a combination of medicines and surgical procedures are used to help husband's (or donor's) sperm fertilize wife's (or donor's) egg, and then the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus of the wife or surrogate mother.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is usually a four-part process. First, the woman’s ovaries are stimulated chemically to induce ovulation. Second, several nearly ripe ova (eggs) are retrieved surgically through the insertion of a fine needle and tubing. Sperm too is collected, as in artificial insemination. Third, the sperm and ova are fertilized in a laboratory and allowed to cleave or multiply several times. Finally, one or often several embryos (also called pre-embryos, Blastocysts or zygotes) are inserted into the woman’s uterus where, hopefully, at least one will implant and grow. Pregnancy happens if any of the embryos implants in the lining of the uterus.

Today, IVF is used to address a variety of causes, including:

  • Fallopian tube problems - Sometimes ovulation is difficult or impossible as the tube might be blocked, damaged, or absent. Surgery tries to open the fallopian tubes to increase a woman's chances of conceiving. Whether or not a woman will be able to conceive after surgery is affected by her age, the health of her partner's sperm or the level of fallopian tube damage. If surgery is ineffective, a doctor may recommend IVF. As it involves placing fertilized eggs directly into the womb, so the fallopian tubes are not involved in the pregnancy at all.
  • Endometriosis - This disease, in which tissue that resembles the lining of the uterus grows outside the organ, can cause infertility. It becomes more difficult for the woman to be pregnant, up to 30%-50% of women with endometriosis experience infertility. The combination of surgical and medical therapy is beneficial in patients attempting to conceive through in vitro fertilization (IVF).
  • Male factor infertility - Low sperm count or poor sperm motility (movement) can impede fertilization. Male infertility plays a significant role in about 50% of infertile couples. Fortunately, in most cases, the obstacle of male factor infertility can be easily eliminated for couples who undergo In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with the use of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).
  • Unexplained infertility - Sometimes doctors can’t pinpoint exactly what is causing infertility. The cause of infertility is unexplained in up to a third of all couples. While many go on to conceive spontaneously, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is widely used in cases where infertility is unresolved. IVF is widely used and accepted because it can overcome many of the factors considered to be causes of unexplained infertility, such as ovarian dysfunction, cervical factors, and problems with sperm-egg interaction and fertilization. Pregnancy rates with IVF can approach 30 percent, making it a favourable option.

SUCCESS RATE

Couples always have myths related to the treatment but to achieve a successful result they need a specialized treatment under the able guidance. The success rate in this technique is highly dependent upon the skill of the fertility doctor.

IVF success rates are generally reported according to the woman's age since as a woman gets older, the IVF success rates go down if she's using her eggs.

On Femicure you can look up IVF success rates on individual clinics —and you should. Still, the good news is that IVF is generally successful, especially for women under age 35 and using donor eggs. For women of all ages, the odds of live birth are between 34 and 42 percent over three cycles.

Conclusion: Becoming pregnant through IVF is a tedious procedure but quite fruitful. The inability to conceive can wreak havoc on a woman’s or a man’s self-esteem, one’s sense of being feminine or masculine, even on marital communication and fidelity.

Pressure from others makes an already awkward and hurtful situation even more difficult. Due to the lack of knowledge about IVF many women in India are not able to conceive and hence they suffer the atrocity of her family.