Having a baby is an important part of family life for many people and consequently, it is greatly distressing to them when they face infertility issues. However, it is essential to know that infertility is a fairly common problem that both men and women face. Since ancient times, we’ve had several remedies that helped with curing infertility but thanks to medical science, we now have many more developed and efficient solutions at hand. The techniques which help you conceive are altogether known as assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). One such rather popular method is IVF (in-vitro fertilization). At Grace Fertility, we have helped many couples through IVF in having babies. But even after a lot of information and anecdotes, people still have doubts about whether the technique works or not. This is understandable as IVF is a costly procedure and requires much time and patience. We’ll present before you both the good and bad sides of IVF, so you can decide for yourself if IVF actually works and if you should go for it or not.
Advantages of IVF
- It helps women who have their own eggs but their fallopian tubes are blocked or damaged.
- It can increase the chances of conceiving in older women (above 42 years old) who have a diminished ovarian reserve.
- Women suffering from severe PCOS can seek IVF for having a baby.
- It can be used by women who suffer from endometriosis (a condition where the womb lining tends to grow outside the womb).
- It can help the male partner suffering from low sperm count or lower sperm mobility by facilitating fertilization through ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection).
- Couples who have unexplained infertility problems are suggested to go for IVF.
- If a woman’s womb has antibodies that harm the sperms and thus don’t allow fertilization to happen, they can also benefit from IVF.
- Poor egg and/or sperm problems can be solved with IVF.
- If there is a risk of passing down a deadly genetic disease to the baby, IVF is a safe method to prevent the passage.
- IVF is known to be more successful than most other ARTs like intrauterine insemination (IUI).
- It can also assist single women and same-sex couples have babies (with a sperm donor).
To ensure the best service and better chances of success, we urge you to opt for the best IVF center in Gurgaon. This is because the success rate of IVF is 10-15% more in the Delhi-Gurgaon region than in the rest of India. Also, make sure to follow the lifestyle guidelines provided by your doctor as it will help ensure success.
Disadvantages of IVF
- More than 60% of all IVF treatments fail. Yes, IVF has only a 30-40% success rate in females below the age of 40. And beyond that, the success rate further declines by 5-25% depending on your age. So, you need to be ready to face failure.
- There is some chance of having side effects or incurring risks during an IVF cycle. Ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome is a likely side effect but the risk is considerably low because of the less use of drugs and hormones.
- About 20-30% of the IVF treatments result in multiple pregnancies which can be a danger to both mother and her baby.
- The birth of a premature baby who is underweight is another common risk of IVF.
- IVF increases the chances of having an ectopic pregnancy.
- It is a highly demanding treatment from all aspects- financial, physical, emotional, and psychological. The more cycles and additional treatments you need, the more the cost will be.
- Lastly, there is an ethical dilemma involved because of selecting one out of multiple embryos as the rest of them have to be either destroyed or donated. If you’re not fine with it, IVF is not for you.
Go for IVF only if you are ready to handle the various pressures and can face failure because no one can guarantee success in this matter. “Do your best and leave the rest” is what we suggest.
Natural Pregnancy vs IVF – Which is a Better Option?
With the increasingly busy, stressful, and hectic lifestyle, many people are facing infertility issues. This is equally true for both the genders. By the time one becomes ready to take the responsibility of being a parent, they find that their body is no more ready. This difficulty has led to more people seeking infertility treatments and getting assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) to conceive. IVF (in-vitro fertilization) is one of the most popular choices when it comes to achieving pregnancy, due to its efficiency, the number of couples seeking it has almost doubled in the past few years.
Who doesn’t want to have a natural pregnancy if the option is available to them? It’s only when that doesn’t work that couples look for alternatives. However, the popularity of IVF has caused some confusion for people who are facing some problems but are not sure if there are any other ways to become pregnant. In fact, only less than 5% of couples facing infertility problems need to undertake an IVF treatment. There are many other treatment options for both male and female factor infertility and Grace Fertility offers them all. Let us first know who has to rely solely on IVF for having a baby.
When should one go for IVF?
In certain cases, the only way to have a biological baby is through IVF. Some such conditions are-
- If you have blocked fallopian tubes. This condition requires IVF because the eggs can’t reach the uterus due to the blocked pathway (aka the fallopian tubes). This means that the sperms can’t reach the egg and hence, no fertilization can take place.
- If you are suffering from severe male factor infertility. If the male partner is suffering from extremely low sperm count or low sperm mobility then either intrauterine insemination (IUI) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with IVF will be needed. In case of a total absence of sperm in one’s semen, a sperm donor will be required.
- If there is a high risk of passing on a genetic disease or you are experiencing frequent miscarriages due to some genetic problem. You will then need IVF with PGS (preimplantation genetic screening) or PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis).
- In case a woman had cryopreserved her eggs for future use and now, she wants to utilize them, IVF is needed. This option is to solve age-related problems and/ or for cancer patients.
- In case a woman doesn’t have a uterus, a gestational carrier is needed which inevitably requires one to go for IVF.
- Couples with unexplained infertility have to go for IVF.
We suggest you choose an IVF center in Delhi because the capital (along with Gurgaon) has one of the best national average success rates.
When can one explore other treatment options?
Now that you know which conditions require you to have IVF, let us see what other options are there for others who have different infertility issues. Maybe you will eventually need IVF but maybe you won’t. So, it’s better to have knowledge of these other options.
- Women with ovulation-related problems can use fertility drugs like Clomid. It is helpful for women with PCOS problems.
- If Clomid fails, the doctor may suggest letrozole. Later still, gonadotropins coupled with timed sex can help.
- IUI can be combined with the above treatments to achieve pregnancy.
- In case of low sperm count, a drug treatment to boost sperm production might help.
- Removing varicocele can be of help if that was causing infertility.
- IUI (either with or without fertility drugs, depending on the female partner) is another possible option.
- IUI with a sperm donor can help where the male partner can’t produce sperm.
When multiple of these options fail to show results, you should seek IVF. But there may be some couples who do not wish to opt for IVF for various reasons, what should they do? Well, most couples will have some chance of conceiving naturally. So, you can keep trying while being in touch with a fertility doctor. You may seek other non-surgical treatments like drug therapy and IUI. To have the best experience, choose the best IVF center in Gurgaon. Additionally, you may go for acupuncture therapy. If all else fails, you can always adopt a child, it will better both your and their lives. Or, you can simply choose to be comfortable with a child-free life.
Final Word
While nothing beats natural pregnancy, in times of need one has to look for alternatives. Thanks to modern medicine, we are better equipped to handle infertility conditions. You can opt for medical (drugs, IUI, etc.) and surgical (IVF, ICSI, etc) treatments to get pregnant. However, the option you choose will depend on the cause of your infertility and your willingness to opt for a certain treatment path. It is a very desirable option for many couples and can help you have your own child. But if you do not want to pursue it, you should keep trying to conceive naturally. In any case, do what you feel comfortable with, not what someone else tells you should do.
Since its invention, IVF has blessed many couples with healthy babies. Its popularity and demand in the last few years have been immense as has been the enhancement in this technique. This treatment has been made accessible to most people but people still need to be made aware of its usefulness. Definitely, there are some risks involved along with the many advantages of IVF. But whether or not it works for a couple depends on several factors like their age, health conditions, and lifestyle. As long as there is a sufficient chance of conceiving, why not try? If after knowing both sides of the coin, you think IVF is for you, then you should go for it. Lastly, we recommend choosing a reputed IVF center in Delhi (if possible) for increasing your chances of conceiving.
