What is IVF ?
IVF is the technique of mixing the women's eggs (ova) with sperm from her partner in a small dish or test-tube in the laboratory to allow fertilisation to occur. Once the ova are fertilised, one or more fertilized eggs (pre-embryos) or developing embryos are replaced into the woman's womb through the cervix.
Who needs IVF & why
Many cases of infertility can be helped with IVF. However, the chances of pregnancy are very variable and depend on the cause of infertility. When you are seen at the clinic we will discuss the most suitable type of treatment for you and give you an estimate of your chances of becoming pregnant
For most couples, IVF treatment involves using your own sperm and eggs. Rarely we may recommend using donated eggs or sperm but of course this would never be done without your consent .
The precise details of your treatment will be send separately and below is a short outline of the steps involved in IVF These include
Who Needs IVF and Why?
Tubal Factor-:
IVF was developed specifically for women whose fallopian tubes had been injured by prior surgery or infection. Surgical repair of damaged tubes is rarely successful except in certain cases of tubal sterilization. For women with significant damage to the ends (fimbria) of their tubes, one IVF attempt offers a better chance of a viable pregnancy than surgery ever will and at a lower overall cost.
Male Factor-:
IVF is clearly the best treatment modality ever developed for low sperm count problems. ICSI, where a single sperm is placed inside each mature egg, has improved dramatically since 1990 and now offers hope even when extremely few sperm are obtained, either from semen or from needle aspiration of the testicular sperm ducts (PESA - Percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration).
Endometriosis -:
While not usually the first line of treatment for this problem, IVF works well for endometriosis. It is the therapy of choice for severe cases or when lesser treatments have failed or for women at or approaching age 40.
Anovulation
The majority of patients with anovulation will conceive using simpler treatments. However, those patients requiring IVF are typically "high responders" to gonadotropin therapy and have a good prognosis.
Unexplained Infertility
Approximately 20% of couples will have no identifiable cause of infertility after completing a comprehensive evaluation. IVF is often successful when all conservative treatments have failed, especially since some of these couples actually have some block to fertilization. Majority of these pateints have either poor egg quality or failour of the egg to escape or may have implantation problem.
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)
Genetic testing on pre-implantation embryos may be indicated for patients who are at risk for genetic disorders such as Cystic fibrosis and Thalassemia and for patients with infertility related to chromosomal abnormalities such as recurrent pregnancy loss or repeated unsuccessful IVF.
