In vitro fertilization or IVF is a technological advancement in
the medical arena in response to the alarming rate of
infertility in developed countries. The concept was pioneered by
Patrick Steptoe and Dr. Robert Edwards, a Cambridge
physiologist, late in the 1960s and about ten years later, the
first IVF baby was delivered in the UK.
IVF was invented primarily to help women that suffer infertility
due to blocked or diseased uterine tubes, but over time, the
application of the procedure has been extended to cover cases
like endometriosis, hostile cervical mucus and a host of other
infertility problems. It is even applied now in cases where the
husband or male partner suffers from a low sperm count, albeit,
the results with the latter have not been particularly
impressive.
The process of in vitro fertilization, essentially, involves the
use of a laparoscope; a telescope, which can be inserted into a
woman's abdomen under anesthetic conditions, to remove eggs from
the woman's ovary at a period just before the time it would
naturally be released (ovulated). The harvested egg is then
mixed with the washed and diluted male sperm in a glass dish. If
fertilization occurs between the egg and the sperm, the
resultant embryo is allowed to develop in the laboratory,
usually for two to three days before the embryo is then
re-inserted or implanted in the woman's uterine cavity through a
sort of plastic tube.
Like every other man made procedure, IVF has its own share of
limitations and adverse effects. The success rate of the
procedure and the risk of suffering an ectopic pregnancy; a
pregnancy that implants and develops outside the uterine cavity
and almost always ends up with erupted uterine tube, are two of
such issues. Also, with IVF, pregnancy does not always guarantee
birth. Miscarriages and ectopic pregnancy tend to be higher with
this procedure compared to the general population. Losing the
pregnancy from an IVF procedure is fairly common, although no
general estimate exists, while the occurrence of ectopic
pregnancy from IVF is put at 5-10% of all IVF pregnancies.
Another issue with in vitro fertilization is the success rate.
The recorded successes for IVF procedures vary from place to
place, though no figure is considered high anywhere. For every
couple that resort to IVF and get a happy outcome, there are
several more couples that find their infertility problem
intractable. Albeit, the technological basis of IVF is getting
better by the day, as more facts become clear about IVF, leading
to better results with IVF attempts, the figures cited in most
leading IVF centers are in this order: an eight to ten percent
chance of pregnancy if only one embryo is implanted in the
woman's uterus, a twenty percent chance if two embryos are
implanted and a thirty percent chance of getting pregnant with
three embryos implanted. For medical reasons, the number of
embryos implanted rarely goes above three or four. However, it
is imperative to reiterate, here, that pregnancy, as with normal
conditions, does not always guarantee birth.
In vitro fertilization has been a major advancement in
infertility treatment over the last couple of decades. The
procedure demands sophisticated technological equipment plus a
high level of skill on the part of the medical operators.
Despite the fact that doctors and others in the medical field
can't make promises or guarantees about IVF yet, it is obvious
that the procedure has put joy on the faces of many couples and
still holds hope for those waiting for it.
About the author:
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Infertility
