If IVF is performed to treat infertility, you and your partner might be able to try less-invasive treatment options before attempting IVF , including fertility drugs to increase production of eggs or intrauterine insemination — a procedure in which sperm are placed directly in the uterus near the time of ovulation. Sometimes, IVF is offered as a primary treatment for infertility in women over age IVF can also be done if you have certain health conditions.
For example, IVF may be an option if you or your partner has:. Fertility preservation for cancer or other health conditions. If you're about to start cancer treatment — such as radiation or chemotherapy — that could harm your fertility, IVF for fertility preservation may be an option.
Women can have eggs harvested from their ovaries and frozen in an unfertilized state for later use. Or the eggs can be fertilized and frozen as embryos for future use.
Women who don't have a functional uterus or for whom pregnancy poses a serious health risk might choose IVF using another person to carry the pregnancy gestational carrier. In this case, the woman's eggs are fertilized with sperm, but the resulting embryos are placed in the gestational carrier's uterus. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Use of injectable fertility drugs, such as human chorionic gonadotropin HCG , to induce ovulation can cause ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, in which your ovaries become swollen and painful.
Symptoms typically last a week and include mild abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. If you become pregnant, however, your symptoms might last several weeks.
Rarely, it's possible to develop a more severe form of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome that can also cause rapid weight gain and shortness of breath. A clinic's success rate depends on many factors. These include patients' ages and medical issues, as well as the clinic's treatment population and treatment approaches.
Ask for detailed information about the costs associated with each step of the procedure. Before beginning a cycle of IVF using your own eggs and sperm, you and your partner will likely need various screenings, including:.
Before beginning a cycle of IVF , consider important questions, including:. How many embryos will be transferred? The number of embryos transferred is typically based on age and number of eggs retrieved. Since the rate of implantation is lower for older women, more embryos are usually transferred — except for women using donor eggs or genetically tested embryos. Most doctors follow specific guidelines to prevent a higher order multiple pregnancy, such as triplets or more.
In some countries, legislation limits the number of embryos that can be transferred. Make sure you and your doctor agree on the number of embryos that will be transferred before the transfer procedure. What will you do with any extra embryos? Extra embryos can be frozen and stored for future use for several years.
Not all embryos will survive the freezing and thawing process, although most will. Having frozen embryos can make future cycles of IVF less expensive and less invasive. Or, you might be able to donate unused frozen embryos to another couple or a research facility. You might also choose to discard unused embryos. IVF involves several steps — ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, sperm retrieval, fertilization and embryo transfer.
One cycle of IVF can take about two to three weeks. More than one cycle may be needed. The start of an IVF cycle begins by using synthetic hormones to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs — rather than the single egg that typically develops each month.
Multiple eggs are needed because some eggs won't fertilize or develop normally after fertilization. Typically, you'll need one to two weeks of ovarian stimulation before your eggs are ready for retrieval. To determine when the eggs are ready for collection, you may have:. Sometimes IVF cycles need to be canceled before egg retrieval for one of these reasons:. If your cycle is canceled, your doctor might recommend changing medications or their doses to promote a better response during future IVF cycles.
Or you may be advised that you need an egg donor. Egg retrieval can be done in your doctor's office or a clinic 34 to 36 hours after the final injection and before ovulation. If you're using your partner's sperm, a semen sample needs to be provided at your doctor's office or clinic the morning of egg retrieval. Typically, the semen sample is collected through masturbation.
Other methods, such as testicular aspiration — the use of a needle or surgical procedure to extract sperm directly from the testicle — are sometimes required. Once this occurs, the fertilized eggs are considered embryos. A catheter or small tube is inserted into the uterus to transfer the embryos. This procedure is painless for most women, although some may experience mild cramping.
If the procedure is successful, implantation typically occurs around six to ten days following egg retrieval. The success rate depends on a number of factors including reproductive history, maternal age, the cause of infertility, and lifestyle factors.
It is also important to understand that pregnancy rates are not the same as live birth rates. Although you may need to take it easy after the procedure, most women can resume normal activities the following day. As with most medical procedures, there are potential risks. More severe symptoms, typically from OHSS, include the following:. If you experience any of these symptoms above, contact your doctor right away.
Additional risks of IVF include the following:. You may choose to use donor eggs, sperm, or embryos. However, make sure to talk with a counselor experienced with donor issues. You will want to be informed about various legal issues related to gamete donation including the legal rights of the donor.
The number of embryos transferred typically depends on the number of eggs collected and maternal age. As the rate of implantation decreases as women age, more eggs may be implanted depending on age to increase the likelihood of implantation.
However, a greater number of eggs transferred increases the chances of having a multiples pregnancy. Make sure to talk with your doctor before the procedure so you both agree on how many embryos to implant.
There are a number of questions to ask regarding the cost and details of specific centers and fertility programs. Some couples want to explore more traditional or over the counter efforts before exploring infertility procedures. If you are trying to get pregnant and looking for resources to support your efforts, we invite you to check out the fertility product and resource guide provided by our corporate sponsor.
Review resource guide here. American Society for Reproductive Medicine. A catheter containing the embryos is used to gently place them into the uterus womb. Women may feel mild cramping when the catheter is inserted through the cervix or they may have vaginal spotting slight bleeding afterward. Very rarely, an infection may develop, which can usually be treated with antibiotics. Having a multiple pregnancy pregnancy with more than one baby is more likely with IVF, particularly when more than one embyro is transferred.
These pregnancies carry significant risks, including:. The more embryos that are transferred into the uterus, the greater the risk. Your doctor should transfer the minimum number of embryos necessary to provide a high likelihood of pregnancy with the lowest risk of multiple pregnancy.
For more information about multiple pregnancy, see the ASRM booklet titled Multiple pregnancy and birth: twins, triplets and highorder multiples. One way to avoid multiple pregnancy is to choose to transfer only one embryo at a time.
Most of this risk is due to delayed conception and the underlying cause of infertility. Whether or not IVF alone is responsible for birth defects remains under debate and study.
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