The Impact of In Vitro Fertilization

Infertility affects millions of Americans in the prime of their reproductive lives.  While infertility can be difficult to deal with, medical technology has advanced to a point where several treatment options are available.  Beyond preliminary fertility treatments such as prescriptions or cycle therapies, sophisticated procedures that target patients with more dire health conditions also exist.  These procedures include in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).  Both of these methods are primarily designed for women with reproductive complications due to fallopian tube damage or blockage. 

InVitroPregnancy.com offers readers in-depth articles, videos and resources pertaining to in vitro fertilization techniques and success rates.  To become more familiar with this topic, we will answer some basic questions about in vitro fertilization.

What is in vitro fertilization?
The Latin term in vitro means “in the glass”.  The English context refers to performing an experiment in a test tube, or in a controlled environment outside of an organism.  In vitro fertilization is a procedure where the female egg is fertilized outside of the woman’s body.  It is then implanted in the woman’s uterus where it develops naturally.

Who is a candidate for in vitro fertilization?
Your doctor considers a number of parameters when considering if you qualify.  The ideal patients are under 35 years old and in general good health.  It is also imperative that the male partner can produce healthy active sperm.

What is involved with the procedure?
Prior to the procedure, the woman is given fertility medication to help produce several eggs.  These eggs are subsequently removed from the ovary using a needle or laparoscopic surgery.  The eggs are then transported to a laboratory, where they are combined with the sperm of the partner. This process of joining the sperm and egg is known as in vitro fertilization. After fertilization is confirmed, the newly formed embryos incubate in test tubes for 2 to 3 days.  Multiple embryos are then transferred to the woman’s cervix using a catheter.  In the weeks immediately following the implantation, the woman is placed on hormone therapy to promote attachment to the cervix.  If everything is successful, a positive pregnancy test will result.

What is the rate of success with in vitro fertilization?
Healthy woman under the age of 36 have the same pregnancy success rate as those who conceive by natural means. This also holds true for instances of miscarriage.  Thus, when pregnancy is achieved through IVF, the success rate normally falls in the same parameters as a natural pregnancy.

The overall success rate for achieving pregnancy through IVF varies by country, age, and condition of infertility. Approximately 37% of procedure cycles resulted in a live birth for US women under 36 using fresh embryos as oppossed to donated eggs.

What alternatives are there to in vitro fertilization?
Only your doctor can tell you if in vitro fertilization best fits your scenario.  There are other forms of assisted reproductive technologies, including gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), and embryo cryopreservation.  Each of these advanced techniques has qualifying factors that must be discussed with your doctor.

In Vitro Pregnancy provides an array of videos and articles on this website that examine the intricacies of fertilization treatments.  We are constantly updating our article database to stay abreast of the latest developments in medical technology.  If you need additional resources, we recommend the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Resource Center.