Medical science has made great progress in treating infertility.
There has been an impressive increase in the success rate of In Vitro Fertilisation over the years.
Still, the beneficiaries are few due to lack of awareness, affordability, access and assurance.
Ethical and legal issues related to embryo transfer and surrogacy are other restraints, in addition to a lack of established regulations.
As a result, the IVF method of conceiving a baby is surrounded by many myths.
Let us try to address them.
| Myth | Fact | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | IVF has a 100 per cent success rate and can resolve all infertility issues. |
Not true. The success rate of IVF is about 40 per cent in couples below the age of 35. IVF's success rate depends on factors such as age, the cause of infertility and the patients' biological and hormonal conditions. There are many other assisted reproductive procedures, such as Ovulation Induction with medication and Intra Uterine Insemination, that can help childless couples conceive. IVF is just one of the options.
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| 2 |
IVF is not safe. IVF babies are born with birth defects and malformations. |
It is a safe procedure with only about two per cent of patients standing the risk of becoming unwell from ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome. The absolute risk of delivering an IVF baby with any kind of malformation is very low. It is same as in a spontaneous pregnancy.
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| 3 |
IVF requires the mother to admitted into a hospital. Bed rest is required during and after the IVF treatment (embryo transfer). |
IVF is, by and large, an out-patient treatment. The egg collection procedure requires day-care admission only. There's no need to put your life on hold after the embryo transfer. The outcome could be better in patients who don't opt for bed rest.
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| 4 | Lifestyle modifications (diet, exercise, quitting smoking/ alcohol/ substance abuse/ stress-free lifestyle) will increase the success rate of the IVF treatment. |
This could be true. Poor nutrition can have an impact on fertility. Women with a Body Mass Index of over 30, or those who are severely underweight, may have difficulties with fertility. Smoking and/or substance abuse (like marijuana, etc) can dramatically affect sperm and egg quality, which can have a significant impact on fertility. Based on research, scientists believe that stress can contribute to infertility although it's not necessarily a direct cause; other factors like low sperm count and poor sperm quality could also contribute to fertility issues. A study by Korean researchers has found that women who sleep seven to eight hours are more likely to have a successful IVF cycle than women who sleep more than nine hours or less than six hours.
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| 5 | Infertility is almost always caused by problems with the woman's reproductive system. |
It's common for people to think of infertility as a female problem, but only 35 per cent of infertility cases are caused solely by female factors. Another 35 per cent results from factors in the male reproductive system. Twenty per cent come from both and 10 per cent is undetermined.
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| 6 | You have no control over the success of an IVF cycle. | The results of an IVF cycle are, to a large degree, based on a thorough evaluation of the couple and there are a number of things a doctor can do to increase the success rate. |
Rediff.com advises you to use this information in consultation with a doctor.
Nitiz Murdia is the co-founder of Indira IVF.
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