What IVF Journey Means To Many…

You may be knowing some perspective of the IVF treatment process and ivf costs involved. So the IVF process, also expressed as the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) journey, will start with fertilizing your eggs with the male sperm outside your body. This will help formation of the embryo, that will be used to convert into a successful pregnancy. And this journey, is today, one of the most popular artificial reproductive technologies (ART) used to get pregnant.

Over the years, constant research and development in the fields related to the ART sciences, have only strengthened the IVF success rates. And given lot’s of hope and happiness to couples seeking a baby from behind the curtains of infertility.

Three Common IVF Myths And Doubts

Will IVF Work?

Yes, this is one of the most prominent and dominant of doubts couples have when they hear of IVF. And the reasons are many for having such negative feelings. For the media is full of cases of failures, when it comes to people who had negative results even after a couple of cycles of IVF treatment. So it is important to address this doubt first and discuss this in detail with your IVF specialist in your meetings.

For a start, here’s what is most commonly done when a couple comes to the doctor with complaints indicating infertilities. The IVF doctor would recommend some tests to evaluate the causes of infertility, if any. Like if it is a female infertility issue, or a male infertility problem or whether there are any natural remedies to treat the situation. where the problem lies. So there will be some blood tests recommended and maybe ultrasound scans or a semen analysis of the male partner. Again, depending on the patients ages, the tests will indicate if more detailed diagnosis is required, like checking for fertility levels of the ovaries or the male sperm. If requires, the doctor will recommend donor eggs or donor sperms.

Hence, it is not that the first visit will start the IVF treatment process. And only after thorough analysis, counseling and basic tests, will a good IVF doctor recommend taking the next steps.

What’s with the hormone injections? Isn’t that painful?

When the IVF treatment starts, your doctor will initiate the ovarian stimulation process. This is done using gonadotrophins. And in some cases, a hysteroscopy is done to check for endometrial issues like polp or submucous fibroids. The ovarian stimulation is closely monitored by your doctors using ultrasound and at the right time, a hormone trigger injection will be given.

This process is mostly painless for many, or maybe as little painful as a couple of injections. However, it is important that you discuss this with your doctor before starting the IVF process. Just to allay any fears.

Will an Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) be done?

During the fertilization stage, the male sperm and eggs collected from the female partners are kept in the lab to form an embryo. At this stage, if your IVF doctor see challenges in the formation of the embryo, maybe due to poor quality of the sperms or due to problem with the eggs retrieved, he/she may recommend a Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) treatment. Wherein, the male sperm is directly inserted into a mature egg from the female partner for fertilization.

Cost of IVF: Age, History, Timelines.

Yes, IVF costs are comparatively higher than natural pregnancy cases. However, as your doctors will advise, the cost of IVF treatment is entirely dependent on three factors – Patients’ ages, their medical conditions, and type of fertility treatment selected, as that influences the timelines. In other words, if a couple undergoes an IVF treatment at the very start of their infertility experiences, the success rate of IVF can be very high. However, as seen in many cases, couples tend to explore other forms of treatment where they end up spending extra money without success. And by the time they approach an IVF specialist, a lot of time (age) has passed and this plausibly affects overall success rates.

Hence it is important to consult a good ivf doctor well in advance for the best way forward.