History of In Vitro Fertilization
The world’s first successful in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer pregnancy was born in 1978 in England to a baby named Louise, then known as the “test-tube baby. This miracle was widely publicized by various media after the birth of Louise, who became a world-famous and important news figure. The first IVF baby in mainland China, Zheng Mengzhu, was also born on March 10, 1988. After more than 30 years of development, the increasingly mature and perfect IVF technology has made the dream of conceiving a healthy and lively child come true for many infertile couples. According to statistics, 4 million IVF babies have been born worldwide, and currently more than 100,000 IVF babies are born worldwide each year; since the beginning of the 21st century, approximately 1 out of every 100 babies born is the result of the blessing of in vitro fertilization technology. These are closely related to the increasingly serious problem of infertility, which is currently increasing year by year worldwide and has become the third most common disease in the 21st century, while survey data in China shows that there are currently about 40 million infertile families suffering the pain and suffering of being childless, and this figure is still increasing at an alarming rate of at least 100,000 per year.
What are the in vitro fertilizations?
Although the use of IVF technology is becoming more and more widespread, it still has its own strict groups of people who are suitable and contraindicated.
The indications for the first generation of IVF technology, namely in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET), include
1, the female partner has difficulties in combining sperm and egg due to tubal factors, i.e. serious tubal diseases, such as tubal blockage or fluid retention due to pelvic inflammatory disease; or tubal tuberculosis with normal endometrium; or tubal blockage after ectopic pregnancy surgery, etc;
2. Ovulation disorders: such as follicle non-rupture syndrome, etc;
3, endometriosis;
4, male factors, i.e. oligospermia, weak spermatozoa;
5, unexplained infertility;
6. female immune infertility, such as the presence of anti-sperm antibodies in the male partner’s semen or the female partner’s cervical mucus.
The indications for the second generation of IVF technology, namely intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), are
1. Severe oligospermia, hypospermia and teratospermia;
2, obstructive azoospermia;
3, spermatogenic dysfunction;
4, male immune infertility;
5, in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) fertilization failure;
6. Sperm without acrosome or abnormal acrosome function. The third generation of IVF technology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), is used for those who have genetic disorders that require pre-implantation diagnosis.
IVF is not grown in a test tube
The process of IVF, also known as in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer, involves first injecting the mother with a certain amount of hormones that promote egg growth and development, then surgically removing the mature egg from the body and placing it in a test tube or petri dish with a certain temperature and culture fluid, adding the father’s sperm to fertilize the egg in vitro, and then continuously changing the culture fluid to allow the fertilized egg to divide naturally The fertilized egg is then transferred to the mother’s uterus for implantation and development into a fetus. After a few months of normal pregnancy, a healthy baby is born. This is the basic process of IVF technology, and the term “IVF” is just a vivid expression of this technology, and the child conceived is still the “flesh and blood” of the mother and father.
What is the need or possibility of IVF?
A baby’s conception begins with the union of sperm and egg through the fallopian tube to form a fertilized egg, which gradually develops and “settles” in the mother’s uterus, and is then delivered after an October gestation period. Problems with any one of these processes can lead to infertility. For tubal problems such as inflammation and blockage, endometriosis, and poor sperm quality such as low, weak or abnormal spermatozoa, the likelihood of conceiving naturally is very low, and it is likely that IVF technology will be needed to help. On the other hand, IVF also needs to comply with the national family planning policy, so you need to prepare the “three certificates” before IVF, including ID card, marriage certificate and family planning service certificate, especially the latter, if you need to have a second child, you need to meet the national second child policy. Knowing this can help you to save time and effort to achieve your wish if you are eager to become a father and a mother.
What is the success rate of IVF? Is it costly?
Early IVF technology has a low success rate of less than 10%, but with the advancement of science, the technology is becoming more and more mature and the success rate is increasing, and now the average success rate of medical institutions in China carrying out this technology has reached 40%, and the age of women is one of the important influencing factors. The success rate of Guangdong Maternal and Child Health Hospital has been maintained at about 50-60% in recent years, with younger patients (<35 years old) having a success rate of over 60%. This success rate does not mean that only 50 out of 100 couples undergoing IVF will be successful, but that 50 out of 100 procedures may be successful, which is much higher than the chance of conceiving in a normal couple's room, where the average chance of conceiving in a normal couple's room is about 5-6 ovulation cycles, or about 20%. Therefore, for couples who have not been able to conceive for many years, it is recommended that you seek help from a regular hospital sooner so that you can achieve your wish sooner. As for the cost, there are some differences in the fees charged by each hospital, but it mainly includes three parts of the cost - the pre-operative examination/medication and the surgical fees for egg retrieval, culture and transplantation, totaling about 20,000 to 30,000. In addition, you can usually obtain multiple eggs and form multiple embryos in one egg retrieval, and freeze the remaining embryos if possible, so that if the first transfer is unsuccessful, you can perform a frozen embryo transfer, which is also much less expensive, and the success rate of frozen embryo transfer can reach 40-50%.
Are IVF babies healthy?
Many infertile couples are worried that IVF babies will be “mentally retarded or disabled” and will be “extraordinary babies”, especially since an article reported that the IQ of IVF babies is lower than that of naturally conceived babies, which has caused many infertile couples to have doubts. In fact, after more than 30 years of development, 4 million IVF babies have been born worldwide, and early IVF babies have also given birth to their own normal babies, and there are some large scale medical follow-up surveys and studies that have confirmed that there is no significant difference between IVF and naturally conceived babies in terms of birth defects and later mental development. On October 4, 2010, the father of IVF, British physiologist Robert Edward, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, proving the scientific validity of IVF technology and its importance to all of us.
Does the IVF technique affect the mother?
IVF involves the use of drugs to promote follicle growth and maturation, and the removal of a large number of eggs from the mother’s ovaries. In fact, these drugs have been used worldwide for more than 30 years and no serious toxic side effects have been reported so far; while many follicles can develop in a normal menstrual cycle, eventually only one follicle grows up and matures, while the others end up in atresia – death. Therefore, it is believed that egg retrieval has no significant impact on ovarian function, and its long-term effects are still under observation, and there are no clear serious adverse effects.
PGD eliminates hidden risks
PGD, or preimplantation genetic diagnosis, is a third-generation “IVF” technique. It is the third generation of IVF technology, which is based on artificial insemination and microscopic manipulation, and involves the diagnosis of embryos before implantation into the mother, so as to screen out “qualified embryos” without genetic diseases and then implant them into the mother. This is to add a “diagnostic and then implantation” procedure before transferring the embryos into the mother, so that infertile couples can not only have children, but also have good fertility. It is important to note that third-generation IVF technology allows only those with sex-linked genetic disorders to choose whether to have a male or a female within the national ethics of reproduction. PGD is used for patients with genetic disorders that require pre-transplant diagnosis. It is mainly used for X-linked genetic disorders, monogenic related genetic disorders, chromosomal disorders and high-risk groups who may have children with the above diseases, etc.