IVF: In Vitro Fertilization

How IVF:In Vitro Fertilization Works

In Vitro Fertilization is a procedure in which a woman’s egg cells are removed from her ovaries and fertilized outside her body, then the fertilized eggs, or zygotes, are implanted in the mother’s uterus. Prior to harvesting her eggs, the woman will go through two weeks of intense fertility drug and hormonal therapy. The harvesting can be done as an outpatient procedure while the patient is under local anesthesia. Once the eggs have been fertilized and develop into pre-embryos, a special catheter is used to insert the pre-embryos through the vagina into the uterus. The entire procedure can be done in as little as three weeks, or when combined with cryopreservation, can lead to the eggs being fertilized and implanted in the uterus years later.

IVF: In Vitro Fertilization increases the chance of a successful pregnancy, and it is often the only way a woman with fallopian tube problems can become pregnant. Overall women who undergo In Vitro Fertilization have a 20-30% chance of a successful pregnancy with each treatment.

Problems with In Vitro Fertilization

The most common complication with IVF is the development of multiple births. This is predominantly due to the common practice of implanting more than one pre-embryo into the uterus. This is done to increase the chance of a successful pregnancy with only one treatment. Multiple births can lead to:

• Premature labor
• Neonatal morbidity
• Miscarriage
• Obstetrical complications

IVF: In Vitro Fertilization is also often linked to the development of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, due to the use of ovarian stimulation treatments that are used to insure the development of multiple follicles of the ovaries.

Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation allows a doctor to harvest multiple eggs at one time, then freeze them or the embryos, until such time as the patient is ready to become pregnant. This process comes in handy because a woman can have enough eggs harvested at one time to undergo more than one IVF treatment. She can also donate the unused eggs to a woman who has no eggs, or to allow a surrogate mother to carry her embryos to term, in the event she is not medically capable of doing so herself.

Ethical Issues with IVF

Even though IVF has been a viable option for becoming pregnant for almost 30 years, certain ethical issues are still open to debate. Among these issues are:

• The artificial creation of life;
• The creation of more embryos than is needed, or can be healthily carried to term;
• Contributes to the world’s overpopulation;
• Affordable only to the very wealthy;
• The ability to select embryos based on sex;
• The discarding of unused embryos;
• Objections by the Roman Catholic Church.

This means a woman who chooses to undergo IVF: In Vitro Fertilization treatments may find herself on the receiving end of disapproval from family and friends. While this should by no means be the deciding factor as to whether a woman should use IVF to get pregnant, it is something she should consider.

External Links

• In vitro fertilisation
• Georgia Reproductive Specialists.