IVF Success Rates

IVF Success Rates IVF success rates are largely based on two factors. The first one is your age. The second one is the number of eggs retrieved during your treatment. Of course there are numerous personal and other influential factors which will influence your own IVF success. However, these are too numerous to chart and all recorded statistics are therefore solely based on these two aforementioned gross factors. The purpose of this article is to give you exactly the best information possible about IVF success rates. Before you think about going ahead with IVF, it's important to become informed on what is involved and the likely odds of success and failure. Because the IVF cost is so high compared to the likelihood of conception, there are not as many IVF success stories as heart breaking failures. However, it's always best to be optimistic and consider your chances based on the real data. IVF Success Rates By Age Let's get straight to the hard facts. The older you are, the less likely you are to enjoy IVF success. Your odds of getting pregnant are better the earlier you decide to do it. The gross average IVF success rate for women under 35 years of age is 44%. However this figure will vary depending on how many eggs you produce during your hormone treatments. If you produce more than 10 eggs, your odds increase to around 65% (this is the highest IVF success rate you can expect). If you only harvest one or two eggs your chances of conception go down to 16%. At the other end of the spectrum we have the over 40 year old would-be mothers. The best you can hope for in this age range is just over one-in-three. The IVF success rate for the over 40's age group tops at 35% and bottoms out at 7%. The chances of failure are therefore more than half. You need to be realistic about this. Some couples do numerous IVF cycles and never have any luck, while others will achieve their goal on the first pop. You really can't tell, and that's why so many couples still persevere with IVF despite the dismal success rates. In Vitro Fertilization Success Rate Factors Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about either of the two most limiting factors, namely, your age and the number of eggs you make. IVF is an expensive gamble and you have to be prepared to lose if you want to play. I don't need to explain to you about age, but let me explain to you about the egg harvesting process in terms of your IVF success rate. During a normal menstrual cycle you normally produce one egg. Your eggs are all stored in your ovaries and each month one of them gets released and makes the journey down your fallopian tube and into your uterus. Before you begin the IVF process you will be asked to track your cycle on a calendar. They ask you to do this because once you start a new cycle you will be given hormone injections which stimulate the ovaries to release more than one egg. In Vitro Fertilization is basically a numbers game. The more chances you give yourself the betters your odds. Your artificial insemination success rate increases with each additional egg you can produce. The injections cost around a hundred bucks a pop and you need to do them daily for around 2-3 weeks. They are usually self injected into the stomach area and taken first thing in the morning. It doesn't take long to get sick of these injections. You will experience mood swings, cravings and also put on some weight. Artificial Insemination Success Rate When it finally comes time for you to ovulate you will take one final trigger shot which will induce the release of the eggs. At this stage you will already have a scheduled appointment in theatre with the specialist to perform the extraction. As I mentioned earlier, the more eggs you produce the higher your artificial insemination success rate will be. Unfortunately there isn't anything major you can do to produce more eggs apart from trying to remain healthy during this period. A good result is more than 10 eggs. It is known to be as high as 20 for some women and only occasionally will yield none. Your IVF success rate is directly proportionate to the number of eggs you can make. If you make more than 10 eggs they will most likely ask you to hold the fertilized embryos in the lab for up to five days for observation. After this time they can then implant the best looking embryo(s) to boost your IVF success rate even more. The advantage of getting more eggs is that you'll also be able to put some of them on ice, therefore negating the need for more costly and painful hormone injections.