Who Is A Good Candidate For IVF?
The ideal IVF candidate is in overall good health. Beyond that basic requirement, it’s a question of your individual situation. The good news here is that IVF is effective in treating many different causes of infertility.
It’s often a good option for Couples who have been trying to conceive for more than six months. Couples who have not been able to get pregnant on their own after half a year are often very successful with IVF.
Women at all stages of their reproductive years have gotten pregnant using IVF, using their own or donor eggs.
Others are women who have been unsuccessful with other fertility treatments, including fertility medications and IUI (intrauterine insemination). It can be extremely discouraging and painful to try several different ART treatments without success, but IVF often offers hope where other methods have failed.
People suffering from types of infertility, including; Tubal factor infertility. If you have scarred, blocked, damaged, or missing fallopian tubes, IVF is an excellent option, as the IVF process bypasses the fallopian tubes entirely. It’s often a more effective (and less invasive) alternative to surgical solutions. Endometriosis. IVF can offer a way forward for patients who have been affected by endometrial scarring. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). IVF is considered a highly effective infertility treatment for women with PCOS. Male factor infertility. Low sperm count or issues with sperm quality can often be addressed by IVF and ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection) if necessary. Unhealthy eggs/sperm or the inability to carry a pregnancy. With the help of donors and/or a surrogate, IVF can provide a path to a baby even when the odds are stacked against you.
People who want control over the genetics of the baby. Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) allows doctors to screen IVF embryos for chromosomal abnormalities. If patients are at risk for certain hereditary disorders, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can be used as a specific screening process to ensure that only healthy embryos are implanted. Couples who may be able to conceive either on their own or via low-tech treatment within two to three years, but don’t want to take the risk of waiting to discover that they are not pregnant.
If you are ready to start your family now and have decided you don’t want to take your chances, IVF can offer you a measure of control that you won’t get from a ‘wait and see’ strategy.
LGBT couples and single women who want to have a baby may turn to IVF to have a baby on their terms and on their timescale.