17.In vitro fertilization -- IVF – Infertility Niche Business

Fast Facts: IVF
IVF is most popular with women younger than age 35 who aren't experiencing problems with their partners' sperm.

Using IVF may help a woman avoid surgery on her fallopian tubes. IVF, in fact, has reduced the need for this surgery by nearly 50 percent.

About 63 percent of women using IVF give birth to single babies; 32 percent of births are twins and 5 percent are triplets -- or more.

Safety? Despite previous studies which found that children conceived through the IVF method possed a slightly increased risk of genetic disorders, the most recent research shows otherwise.

Nearly 1,000 children, conceived through this process, in five European countries were monitored, from birth to their fifth birthday. They were every bit as healthy as children conceived naturally, the study showed.

Assisted reproductive technology takes many forms, depending on the specific needs and situations of the couples involved. One of the most popular of these is in vitro fertilization or IVF for short. It's not only one of the most popular treatment for infertility, it's also recognized worldwide as the established therapy for this condition.

Considering its popularity, you may be surprised to learn that less than five percent of the infertile couples use this procedure.

If you and your partner are considering this procedure, you'll discover that the first step is the administration of hormones designed to stimulate your ovaries into producing several eggs.

Once the eggs have been produced then a surgeon inserts a needle through the vagina and on into the ovaries in order to retrieve the eggs as well as the fluid the eggs in which the eggs are residing.

While you've not give a general anesthetic for this portion of IVF, you may

What If . . . IVF Doesn't Work for Me?
And this does happen at times. There is always the possibility that you go through this prolonged -- and emotionally exhausting procedure -- only to discover that for some reason, you really aren't pregnant.

You have a huge emotional investment in this process. Don't be embarrassed or ashamed of being emotionally overcome if this doesn't work.

Now what? You confront and manage the emotional aspect of this procedure. Having a baby means too much to you to just sweep the failure under the rug.
It's very likely that you told very few except your very closest family members and your most trusted friends. And that's to be expected.

But now that means you're facing one of the most emotionally draining moments of your life with very few people to lean on.

Consider joining a support group. With the marvelous technology of the internet you have the choice of joining a group like this whether you can find one in your area to physically attend or not.

Sometimes even the "cyber-support" of others who have gone through what you have or are going through it now, can be of great value to you.

I've included some resources in Appendix II of this book that may help you in locating either a local group or an online support group.

You may also want to ask your doctor for the names of any well-qualified counselors you and your partner may visit.

be given a sedating medication of some kind.

Testing occurs to insure that eggs are indeed within the fluid.
At the same time, the male partner provides the laboratory with a semen sample. He's requested to refrain from sex for several days prior to his giving this sample. The sperm, then, are separated from the semen itself.

Now, is the moment you've been waiting for. The sperm are combined with the eggs in a laboratory dish. This is the part of the procedure from which we get its name: in vitro fertilization. The "in vitro" part of the name refers to a process (and technically any process) which occurs in a laboratory outside a living creature.

Surprisingly, it takes only 18 hours to know if the sperm has fertilized the eggs and if they have begun the process of growing as embryos. If the sperm "have done their job" then the eggs are incubated. Laboratory staff then carefully monitors the progress for the following two to three days.

After that, the doctor transfers what are now referred to as embryos from the laboratory dish into your uterus. He or she does this by going through the cervix using a catheter. For an hour after this occurs, you need to stay in a resting position.

For the two weeks which follow, you'll be given more hormones. If the implantation takes hold, the eggs actually attach themselves to the uterine wall and continue to grow.

You'll be given a pregnancy test, to confirm that indeed that everything is on course. And yes, it'll show loud and clear that you are indeed pregnant. Congratulations!