KissMeGoodnight Article Series: Fertility
Fertility & Conceiving A Baby Explained

What Is IVF (In Vitro Fertilization)?

What is IVF treatment? What will happen to you if you have it? Will it be successful, and is it safe? These are some of the most common questions that we hear from people who are considering fertility treatment to help them have a baby.

What Is IVF Treatment?

IVF stands for in vitro fertilization. Vitro means glass. So it is fertilization that happens in a glass test tube or similar apparatus in a laboratory, instead of in a woman's womb (that would be called intrauterine insemination or IUI).

It requires a woman to donate an egg and the man to donate sperm. After successful fertilization in the laboratory, the fertilized egg is implanted into the woman's womb. It does not necessarily have to be the same woman who donated the egg.

Some people use the term IVF when they mean any kind of assisted conception. This is not strictly accurate. If a woman takes drugs to stimulate ovulation and then conceives during sex in the usual way, that is not IVF treatment but another form of assisted conception.

What Happens When You Have IVF Treatment?

The course of IVF treatment can be different according to the patient's situation. Here we will consider a typical case, but yours may be very different.

First the woman will be prescribed some drugs which will control her monthly cycle. In most cases, she will first take drugs to prevent ovulation, and then when the signs are right, she will have an injection that will stimulate the production of several eggs.

A few days later, she will visit the hospital to have the eggs removed from her womb. Meanwhile the man will give a sperm sample, unless donor sperm is being used. Then medical staff will fertilize the eggs with the sperm in the laboratory.

A couple of days after that, the woman will return to the hospital to have the fertilized eggs inserted into the womb. Usually, more than one egg is inserted. This gives a better chance of success. Sometimes more than one egg will develop, so there could be twins, triplets or even more.

Around two weeks later, the woman will take a regular pregnancy test to find out whether one or more of the eggs has successfully embedded in the lining of the womb. If the test is positive, there is a good chance of the pregnancy proceeding normally to birth. If it is negative, then the IVF treatment has not been successful this time. Most people try again a few months later.

What Is The Success Rate Of IVF Treatment?

When you look at the success rate of IVF treatment, it is important to remember that the success rate is going to depend on the suitability of the patients. So for example if doctors only give IVF to patients who are ideally suited to it, the success rate will be higher than if they give it to everybody who asks, no matter what their age, medical history, etc. For this reason, the success rate for IVF treatment can vary widely between different states and countries.

The only way to know how likely it is that IVF will be successful for you, is to ask a medical professional who knows your case.

If you would like to know any more about the implications of IVF treatment in your individual case, or if you still have questions like what is IVF treatment, you should discuss this with your doctor or fertility clinic.

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by KissMeGoodnight.com : 2011

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