In Vitro Fertilization
IVF (In vitro fertilization) at a glance
What is IVF?
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a means of assisted reproduction that combines a man’s sperm with a woman’s egg in a laboratory dish. Once fertilized, the egg can be tested for genetic disorders. One or more of the embryos are transferred to the woman’s uterus, where they hopefully will implant and develop into a normal pregnancy. Unused embryos can be preserved by being frozen (cryopreservation) for future use.
Since the birth of the first IVF baby in 1978, 4 million babies worldwide have been born with the assistance of IVF. In 2010, IVF pioneer Robert Edwards won the Nobel Prize for medicine. Long-term studies have shown IVF children are just as healthy and intelligent as children conceived normally.
IVF treatment is one of the most popular and most recommended for achieving pregnancy because it has the highest success rate of all the infertility treatment options. Conception rates for younger couples trying to achieve pregnancy naturally are 20 to 25 percent. Currently, the national pregnancy rate average with IVF is better than one in three, and can be as high as 40 to 45 percent depending on the woman’s age.
At first, IVF was used to treat women with blocked, damaged, or absent fallopian tubes. Today, however, IVF is used to treat many causes of infertility. Medical advancements have also enabled doctors to successfully implant only one embryo at a time, which decreases the health risks to both mother and babies associated with multiples.
What are the costs of IVF?
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to build a family. We are committed to eliminating hidden costs and unnecessary testing and only recommend assisted reproduction when conventional treatment fails or is not an option. In an effort to make advanced fertility treatment more accessible for patients, we have developed a program that provides IVF treatment at a reduced price.
Pricing for a frozen IVF cycle includes blood work, ultrasounds, retrieval, transfer, ICSI and assisted hatching.
When is IVF recommended?
IVF may be the best initial option if a woman has absent or non-functional fallopian tubes or if the male partner has extremely low sperm counts. In other cases, other fertility treatments, like intrauterine insemination, may be tried first and, if unsuccessful, IVF is the next step. IVF can also be used when embryo genetic diagnosis is desirable or necessary to ensure the baby does not inherit genetic diseases from either parent. IVF also supports conception for women in their late 30s and early 40s who may not have been able to become pregnant on their own.
When used with donor sperm and/or donor eggs, IVF allows men and women to have a chance at pregnancy, birth, and biological parenthood who would otherwise have no way of experiencing pregnancy, such as same sex couples and “choice moms” (single women choosing to become mothers).
For some situations in vitro fertilization may be suggested as the first-line treatment. In other cases, IVF is recommended only if simpler treatment fails. The most common conditions for which IVF is typically recommended include:
- Age Related Infertility. A woman’s egg quality diminishes with age, but in many cases this can be overcome with IVF treatment alone or in conjunction with other assisted reproductive techniques.
- Low Ovarian Reserve. Sometimes a woman suffers from low egg quality or number of eggs earlier in life, which can also be treated with IVF.
- Anovulation. The majority of patients who fail to ovulate (anovulation) have polycystic ovary syndrome and will usually conceive using treatments simpler than IVF, such as hormone therapy, but do have good outcomes when IVF is used..
- Unexplained Infertility. Approximately one fifth of infertile couples have no identifiable cause. IVF is often successful for many of these cases.
- Fallopian Tube Damage/Tubal Factors. Infertility caused by significant fallopian tube damage can only be treated through surgical repair or using IVF, which bypasses use of the tubes.
- Male Factor Infertility. Since 1993, doctors have been able to achieve conception in the IVF lab with abnormal sperm by utilizing ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection). ICSI is recommended when problems with the sperm exist, if the sperm were retrieved surgically, or if prior IVF fertilization attempts have failed.
- Endometriosis. Endometriosis may be effectively treated with laparoscopic surgery, but IVF is a very effective second line of treatment if initial treatment proves unsuccessful.
- Genetic Abnormalities. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a method of testing embryos prior to implantation. It is appropriate if either parent is a potential carrier for genetic disease and for random or age-related chromosomal abnormalities that cause recurrent miscarriage or previous IVF failure. For these patients, doctors may suggest preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which lets physicians screen embryos prior to implantation.
- Recurrent Pregnancy Loss. If a couple has suffered three or more miscarriages, IVF treatment can allow a healthy embryo to be implanted, which can increase chances for a full term pregnancy.
If you are considering IVF, contact us to request an appointment with one of our fertility specialists to get started on your journey.