In vitro fertilization (commonly referred to as simply IVF) is a process of assisted reproduction that provides couples who are infertile a chance to have a child who is biologically related to them. Over 250,000 babies have been born using the IVF procedure and it is now a fully established way of treating infertility.
With IVF, a man's sperm and the woman's egg are brought together by an IVF specialist in a laboratory dish. The embryo which forms is then put into the uterus (womb) of the woman to develop naturally. Typically, 3 or 4 embryos are put in the woman's uterus at one time. Each attempt is called a cycle, and the cost of IVF per cycle is approximately $10,000.
The full procedure is as follows:
The woman may be administered certain drugs (hormones) in order to induce her ovaries to create several eggs. A surgeon will then insert a needle into the woman's ovary to take out the eggs. At the same time, a semen sample is taken from the man. He will be asked not to have sex for half a week before the eggs are retrieved from his partner. The next step is for the sperm to be separated from the semen, which is done through a laboratory procedure.
Next, the sperm are combined in the laboratory dish with the eggs. Around 18 hours after this has been done, it is possible to find out if the egg or eggs have fertilized and have begun to grow as embryos. Should this have happened, they will be incubated over the next 2-7 days. The doctor then transfers the embryos back to the woman using a catheter (a long slender tube). She is then given certain hormones for the following 10-14 days.
The pregnancy success rate of this procedure is 36% among women younger than 35 years, 27% for those between 36-39 years and 13% in those who are 40+ years. Therefore, the total cost of IVF is normally over $20,000, as the odds are against a couple suceeding first time around.
As a final point, research has shown that babies born through IVF are at least as healthy as those born naturally. The only major complication comes in the risk of multiple births happening, with the probablity of twins or triplets being noticeably higher. - 29962
With IVF, a man's sperm and the woman's egg are brought together by an IVF specialist in a laboratory dish. The embryo which forms is then put into the uterus (womb) of the woman to develop naturally. Typically, 3 or 4 embryos are put in the woman's uterus at one time. Each attempt is called a cycle, and the cost of IVF per cycle is approximately $10,000.
The full procedure is as follows:
The woman may be administered certain drugs (hormones) in order to induce her ovaries to create several eggs. A surgeon will then insert a needle into the woman's ovary to take out the eggs. At the same time, a semen sample is taken from the man. He will be asked not to have sex for half a week before the eggs are retrieved from his partner. The next step is for the sperm to be separated from the semen, which is done through a laboratory procedure.
Next, the sperm are combined in the laboratory dish with the eggs. Around 18 hours after this has been done, it is possible to find out if the egg or eggs have fertilized and have begun to grow as embryos. Should this have happened, they will be incubated over the next 2-7 days. The doctor then transfers the embryos back to the woman using a catheter (a long slender tube). She is then given certain hormones for the following 10-14 days.
The pregnancy success rate of this procedure is 36% among women younger than 35 years, 27% for those between 36-39 years and 13% in those who are 40+ years. Therefore, the total cost of IVF is normally over $20,000, as the odds are against a couple suceeding first time around.
As a final point, research has shown that babies born through IVF are at least as healthy as those born naturally. The only major complication comes in the risk of multiple births happening, with the probablity of twins or triplets being noticeably higher. - 29962
