IVF Fertility Treatment  

In vitro fertilization or IVF fertility treatment is one of the more common fertility interventions aside from prescription drug treatment for infertility. IVF fertility treatment accounts for more than half and almost three quarters of assisted reproductive technologies every year. IVF can improve a couples chances of conceiving particularly if they are having trouble conceiving due to ovulation problems or structural problems that may include blockages in the fallopian tubes. IVF is also helpful in some cases when a woman's partner has fertility problems including low sperm count.

Typically IVF isn't tried until other less invasive measures are adopted, which may include use of prescription drug therapy. Typically a woman with ovulation problems will try drug therapy for between six and twelve cycles before resorting to more invasive measures including IVF therapy.

How Does IVF Work?

During the beginning of a woman's cycle, the woman starts taking fertility stimulating drugs to encourage the ovaries to develop multiple mature eggs. Normally a woman would only release a single egg every month. Hormone therapy encourages release of multiple eggs to encourage the odds of conception.

This typically requires monitoring. Once the eggs are mature a health care provider will remove the eggs from the ovaries and manually combine a woman's eggs with their partners sperm. These eggs, now fertilized form an immature embryo. Doctors then replace a few of these fertilized eggs back onto the uterus in the hopes they will implant and result in a pregnancy.

Many times women undergoing IVF treatments are susceptible to multiple pregnancies, since usually between two and four fertilized eggs are implanted in the uterus. The reason for this is to increase the likelihood that at least one egg will take and result in pregnancy.

Most women will undergo IVF therapy over the course of several weeks. During this time a woman and her partner will undergo multiple tests. Doctors will also need to collect a sperm sample from the male partner.

The outcomes of IVF therapy vary from person to person. Many factors can influence the odds of having a successful pregnancy. Younger women tend to produce healthier and more viable eggs than older women, hence typically experience higher success rates when using IVF treatment. Most women will realize a 20-35% chance of getting pregnant each time they undergo IVF therapy.

One of the benefits of this therapy is it can help women with problems including fallopian blockages conceive. If you are otherwise healthy there is probably a higher than average likelihood that you will succeed conceiving.

Unfortunately there are some downsides to IVF treatment. Perhaps the biggest obstacles couples face is the expense. IVF is one of the more costly infertility treatments and is not covered by most insurances, even if infertility results from a physical or medical problem. Many couples will have to undergo several sessions of IVF before they are able to successfully conceive. Most will pay anywhere from $6,000 to $25,00 on average to conceive.

Even if you do conceive there is no guarantee that you will not experience complications. Multiple pregnancies for example carry with them the risk of miscarriage or preterm labor. All in all however couples that successfully conceive using IVF would state they would likely to it again in order to experience the joys of child birth. To learn more about IVF you should discuss your health and infertility with a qualified physician or health care provider.