pros and cons. IVF is not the only way out? Alternatives

Being a new breakthrough in the field of medicine, allowing from now on to have a child even to those couples who have been denied this happiness by nature, in vitro fertilization has become firmly established in our lives for several decades, becoming one of the most urgent and already understandable procedures.

But is IVF really necessary in the treatment of infertility, or are there any alternatives to it?

Let’s try to understand this issue.

The content of the article:

In vitro fertilization is the most effective method of fertility treatment

Today, no one doubts the great importance of in vitro fertilization in the treatment of infertility in married couples. IVF treats many forms of female and male infertility, being sometimes the only option for spouses to have healthy children.

Since 1978, when this method was applied in medical practice for the first time, in one of the clinics in England, IVF has come a long way, and now these methods have been worked out perfectly, guaranteeing a very high percentage of success with each procedure, for any diagnosis of the spouses.

The essence of the IVF procedure is to arrange a “meeting” eggs and sperm outside the woman’s body, and then to plant an already fertilized and developing embryo in her uterus… As a rule, for such a procedure, several eggs are grown in each woman and they are fertilized.

The strongest embryos are placed in the uterus – very often after IVF a woman gives birth to twins, and if there is a threat of miscarriage of these children, then at her request they can remove the “extra” embryos already from the uterus – however, this sometimes threatens complications for future pregnancy and the death of the remaining in the uterus of embryos.

IVF is successful in about 35% of procedures – this is a very high result, given the great complexity of the methods performed.

IVF – all pros and cons

Several years earlier, the in vitro fertilization procedure was poorly available, especially to residents of the Russian hinterlands. In addition, this procedure was and remains paid, and this is quite a lot of money.

In addition to the payment for the procedure itself, it is necessary to take into account the high cost of tests before IVF. Currently, most infertile couples of childbearing age are allocated state quotas for the IVF procedure, this method of infertility treatment is available to everyonewho needs it.

Of course, those couples who hope to become parents only in the case of IVF strongly support this method of infertility treatment. The same opinion is shared by doctors – gynecologists, as well as genetics – during the IVF process, the whole biological material undergoes a very thorough medical examination, and the birth of babies with genetic abnormalities, hereditary diseases or other pathology is excluded.

Pregnancy and childbirth of a woman who becomes pregnant as a result of the IVF procedure, no different from pregnancy of a woman who becomes pregnant naturally.

However, the progressive direction of medicine – in vitro fertilization – also has opponents… For the most part, they oppose IVF procedures religious representatives of different denominations, including Orthodox activists. They consider this method of conception barbaric, unnatural.

In addition, as a result of growing embryos, some of them subsequently die – and this is unacceptable, in the opinion of the church representatives, because it is the murder of already conceived children.

Anyway, but the truth is always somewhere in between… To date IVF is necessary for the treatment of complex types of infertility… Medical science is developing, and already in the IVF process, doctors can use only one egg, growing only single embryothat does not contradict ethical principles, and does not offend the feelings of IVF opponents.

Currently, a special method is being widely developed – “Modified natural cycle” (MSC), which consists in medication (hormonal) support for the growth of one follicle using small doses of follicle-stimulating hormone, and then maintaining its stability and preventing premature ovulation by another group of hormones – GnRH antagonists.

This is a more complicated technique, but it justifies itself in practice in every possible way.

When is IVF not the only option?

Is there an alternative to IVF?

In some cases, the usual IVF procedure cannot bring the couple the desired result in the form of a long-awaited pregnancy. This is, for the most part, in couples where the woman does not have both fallopian tubes, or several IVF attempts did not bring the desired result.

What is the alternative to in vitro fertilization in this case, and what are the chances for a couple to get a long-awaited child?

Consider the most discussed and well-known options…

Sex partner change

It’s no secret that sometimes a man and a woman are well suited to each other spiritually and physically, but their sex cells can be antagonists of each otherwithout allowing a child to be conceived. In such cases, there is one advice among the people – to change the sexual partner, to conceive a child from another man. Let’s keep silent about the moral side of this “alternative”, we will only note that the change of the sexual partner may not lead to the desired result, but to problems in the family – very often.

Egg donation.
If for one reason or another it is impossible to take an egg from a woman for the IVF procedure, then this procedure is performed using donor egg, taken, for example, from a close relative – sister, mother, daughter, or frozen material.

Otherwise, the fertilization procedure with a donor egg is no different from the standard IVF procedure – it just appears additional steps for taking eggs from a donor…

Intrauterine sperm insemination

This method of infertility treatment is as close as possible to natural fertilization, with the only difference is that it is not embryos grown outside of her body that are injected into the woman’s uterus, but purified and specially prepared semen husband.

Exactly the same procedure is performed for a single woman who wants to have a child, injecting her with donor sperm. As a rule, the method is used if the woman has natural ovulation and there is confirmation of the patency of the fallopian tubes.

The onset of pregnancy in a woman as a result of the intrauterine insemination method occurs in about 12% of cases.

GIFT method (intratubal gamete transfer)

This is – newer than IVF, but has already been proven – a more effective method of in vitro fertilization, which serves as an excellent alternative that has the right for further development and use in medicine.

With this method the sex gametes of partners, namely eggs and sperm, are inserted not into the uterine cavity, but into the fallopian tubes women. Fertilization that occurs as a result of this process is as close to natural as possible.

Moreover, this method has certain advantages over the classic IVF option, because the uterus, while the fertilized egg is moving towards it through the fallopian tubes, has the ability prepare as much as possible for the adoption of the embryo, to gain the ability to best implant it into your wall.

This method is most effective for women aged over 40having secondary infertility.

ZIFT method (intratubal zygote transfer)
The method of intratubar transfer of zygotes has been known since the same time as the GIFT method. At its core, ZIFT is transfer of eggs already fertilized outside the woman’s body, which are at the earliest stages of division, not into the uterine cavity, but into the fallopian tubes…

This method is also close to natural fertilization, it allows the uterus fully prepare for the upcoming pregnancy and take the fertilized egg onto your wall.

The ZIFT and GIFT methods are suitable only for those women who have preserved fallopian tubes, or at least one fallopian tube, which has retained its functionality. This method is more effective for young women with secondary infertility…

The incidence of pregnancy as a result of the last two alternative IVF methods – ZIFT and GIFT – is higher than with conventional IVF.

These methods are also good because when using them, an ectopic pregnancy is almost completely excluded.

Accurate measurement of a woman’s body temperature to determine the moment of ovulation

In recent years, a method has become known for accurately determining the moments of ovulation in a woman, and therefore the best moment for conceiving a child naturally. This method was developed by New Zealand chemist Shamus Hashir. This new method is based on one technical invention – a special electronic device that is located in a woman’s body and gives signals about changes in her body temperature even half a degree.

As you know, the moment of ovulation is accompanied by a slight increase in the woman’s body temperature, and this can tell spouses who want to have children when it is necessary to perform intercourse for conception. A woman’s body temperature measurement device is inexpensive – about £ 500, which is significantly cheaper than a conventional IVF procedure.

Couples who want to have a baby should be guided by the signal that the device gives in case of ovulation.

This method guarantees a high percentage of pregnancy in couples where a woman has irregular cycles, or anovulatory cycles – but, unfortunately, it has not yet become widespread, is currently under study and is promising, as alternative to in vitro fertilization…