WHAT MAKES YOU A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR IN VITRO FERTILIZATION?

Some women feel like they may never get pregnant, losing hope for and often giving up on their desire to have a baby.  Over the last 20-30 years, new developments in fertility treatments have given rise to successful options that increase a woman’s chances of getting pregnant – no matter what the cause.

Couples who have been trying to get pregnant for  at least twelve months may be good candidates for in vitro fertilization.  In vitro fertilization or IVF is a procedure that involves a series of steps that eventually combine the eggs and sperm in a lab petri dish.  When the fertilization and embryo growth in the petri dishes goes well, an embryo transfer is performed. An embryo transfer is a procedure which involves the placement of the embryo or embryos into the uterus.

IVF involves several basic steps including:

• The careful monitoring and development of eggs through stimulation with fertility drugs
• Collection of the eggs with a process known as an egg retrieval
• Collection or thawing of a sperm sample
• Combining the eggs and sperm in the lab, providing fertilization and early embryotic growth.
• The transferring of embryos to the uterus.

Who Is Considered A Candidate for IVF?

Couples who have been trying to get pregnant for months at a time even after using conservative measures and other forms of fertility treatments are often considered to be candidates for in vitro fertilization at a fertility clinic in Denver.  Also, women who have experienced issues with their Fallopian tubes, such as blockages, damage or absent tubes, find that IVF is a viable option for fertility treatment.

Although IVF was originally used only in women with “bad” fallopian tubes,  IVF is now widely used in women/ couples with endometriosis, PCOS, poor egg quality , poor sperm quality, women that need a gestational carrier or couples that need pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.  Most causes of infertility can be overcome with IVF, or donor egg IVF often leading to high rates of success. Donor egg IVF can be used in women with poor egg quality.

Men with a low or abnormal sperm count often can still provide healthy sperm needed to fertilize the eggs with IVF in a procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection   (ICSI) . ICSI is a  procedure that injects the sperm directly into the egg and can be used for low sperm counts, low sperm morphology, low progressive motility or unexplained infertility.

Who Is Not Considered A Candidate for IVF?

Unfortunately, IVF is not beneficial for everyone.   Women with severe medical problems may not be healthy enough to tolerate the IVF procedure. Women who are morbidly obese have lower success with IVF and are encouraged to lose weight to have better success. Since egg quality is poorer in women over 40, women who are of advanced fertility age may have reduced rates for pregnancy even with the use of in vitro fertilization.