The Facts About Fertility Treatment

 

For many of us, it’s a biological call to reproduce. After all, that’s what we’re here for at the end of it, to reproduce, to further our species. But for some people, reproduction and fertility is not the easiest thing in the world. Though it is a natural thing to reproduce, to want children to call your own to love and cherish and grow old around, infertility is something that affects many. Fortunately, infertility treatments like an IVF procedure can help couples who struggle to reproduce and with infertility to have a child or children of their own.

Struggles with fertility are certainly not uncommon. Though women are most fertile between the ages of twenty and twenty four, women who are forty or over only have a two in five chance of getting pregnant without the help of fertility treatments or other interventions. Because many couples are choosing to have children later in life so that they can establish a good life and solid career first, this means that many women are finding it difficult to reproduce when it comes time to. The ability to get pregnant naturally starts to decline even at the age of thirty. By the time a woman reaches the age of thirty five, any pregnancy that she has is considered geriatric.

Age is not the only cause of fertility problems. Conditions like endometriosis and PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) can make it very difficult for a woman of any age to get pregnant and carry a baby to term. And one third of all causes of infertility can be attributed to a male partner, who can have fertility issues ranging from a low sperm count to the speed that his sperm swim at. Even a couple that has no fertility problems in either party can struggle to reproduce. A healthy fertile couple can have as low as a 20% chance of getting pregnant in any given month. In fact, infertility isn’t even considered until a couple has been trying to get pregnant for a whole year without any luck.

Fortunately, fertility treatments like the IVF (in vitro fertilization) process have become advanced and relatively successful. Of all women who undergo fertility treatments like IVF (over 40% of women in the United States) almost 70% find success. Most fertility problems are treated through the use of drugs and surgical procedures, which have a high success rate but can be prohibitively expensive. Luckily, fifteen states require that fertility treatments be at least partially covered under medical insurance.

For couples struggling to have a child, there is hope. Modern medicine has come a long way, and many infertile couples have found happiness in the wonders of parenthood.