IVF - In Vitro Fertilization
IVF or In Vitro Fertilization is the procedure by which a human female egg is fertilized outside the womb and then placed back in the womb to carry on to pregnancy. Many couples out there are no longer able to get pregnant naturally. Loss of fertility can be achieved through a number of causes. >
Sickness and Disease
A women can get any number of diseases that can if not attack her reproductive system directly, can attack her health in general, which affects her fertility levels.
Age
A major factor in female infertility these days is age of the female. To a lesser extent the age of the male partner can have a negative effect on ability to conceive. However the female age is a a strong driver of fertility. It is a known fact that a females peak reproductive age is between about 20 and 30. Studies do vary but in general if a female has not started having a family between these two ages then later on in life fertility has a good chance of diminishing. Poor egg quality seems to follow a statistical curve
Stress
We all live faster more stressful lives. The female body can get run down when being bombarded by these day to day stresses. The excess of adrenalin is thought to cause reproductive inhibition and reduce the bodies egg production capabilities.
Medications
Medications can affect the female hormones that drive fertility. The list of possible culprits are pain killers, antibiotics, anti depressants and hormone pills.
Combating infertility
One of the main ways to combat infertility in IVF these days is to use (ART) Assisted Reproductive Technology. In its most basic form it involves the removal of the female egg, then combining it with sperm and returning the fertilized egg to the womb. However there are many other procedures that make up ART
ICSI IVF (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection)
AIn its simplest form, a needle is used to suck up a sperm and then the needle is pushed through the eggs outer shell ( zona pellucid) to the cytoplasm inside the egg. This in turn fertilizes the egg then the egg is returned to the Womb.
Fertility Drugs
There are lots of different types of fertility drugs and for the most part these have allowed women to get pregnant easier. They include the following. - Gonadoptropins follicle stimulating hormones - these drugs make the ovaries go into overdrive and produce lots of eggs. Clomiphene citrate - Another drug that forces the ovaries to produce more follicles. Progesterone . sometimes women are deficient in certain hormones and they must be replaced. One of the mains ones is Progesterone.
Other techniques in IVF are
- Transvaginal ovum retrieval (OCR) is the process whereby a small needle is inserted through the back of the vagina and guided via ultrasound into the ovarian follicles to collect the fluid that contains the eggs.
- Assisted zona hatching (AZH) is performed shortly before the embryo is transferred to the uterus. A small opening is made in the outer layer surrounding the egg in order to help the embryo hatch out and aid in the implantation process of the growing embryo.
- Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is beneficial in the case of male factor infertility where sperm counts are very low or failed fertilization occurred with previous IVF attempt(s). The ICSI procedure involves a single sperm carefully injected into the center of an egg using a microneedle. This method is also sometimes employed when donor sperm is use
- Autologous endometrial coculture is a possible treatment for patients who have failed previous IVF attempts or who have poor embryo quality. The patient's fertilized eggs are placed on top of a layer of cells from the patient's own uterine lining, creating a more natural environment for embryo development.
- Egg donors are resources for women with no eggs due to surgery, chemotherapy, or genetic causes; or with poor egg quality, previously unsuccessful IVF cycles or advanced maternal age. In the egg donor process, eggs are retrieved from a donor's ovaries, fertilized in the laboratory with the sperm from the recipient's partner, and the resulting healthy embryos are returned to the recipient's uterus.
- A gestational carrier is an option when a patient's medical condition prevents a safe pregnancy, when a patient has ovaries but no uterus due to congenital absence or previous surgical removal, and where a patient has no ovaries and is also unable to carry a pregnancy to full term.
- In zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), egg cells are removed from the woman's ovaries and fertilized in the laboratory; the resulting zygote is then placed into the fallopian tube.
- Cytoplasmic transfer is the technique in which the contents of a fertile egg from a donor are injected into the infertile egg of the patient along with the sperm.
- Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) involves the use of genetic screening mechanisms such as Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) or Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) to help identify genetically abnormal embryos and improve healthy outcomes.