1. Success rate in IVF.
In vitro fertilization Centers usually state their success rate as between 40 and 60% per attempt. However, your success is determined only by your characteristics. An individual couple's chances of success depend on a number of factors, including that couple's cause of infertility, age and lifestyle.
In general, under the age of 35, in vitro fertilization has a 50 percent chance of pregnancy per treatment. This chance decreases significantly over the age of 40, and for a 45-year-old woman, it is below 5%, except in exceptional cases. Remember that luck always plays an important role.
The experience we have gained over the years shows that the vast majority of those who are stubborn, persistent and continue trying without losing hope, have their babies. If after three attempts at the same center
If you still cannot get results, be sure to contact other centers. This is actually not because of the failure of that center, but because you now need a psychological change.
2. In vitro fertilization treatment fee
Since the centers in the private sector need to survive and make a profit, the centers must employ experienced and qualified teams and personnel, care in the selection of materials, hotel management services, etc. They determine a price according to their own needs, taking into consideration issues such as this, and demand it from the couples. By the way, don't say "I should choose the most economical one, don't they all do the same job?" When you try to get it cheaper, you will be disappointed. In vitro fertilization treatment is not a product or service that can be returned if you do not like it. If the result is negative, it means that your material and moral efforts have failed and you have to start from the beginning. So you have to make the right choice from the very beginning.
3. When do women's ability to conceive begin to decline?
A woman's fertility begins to decline significantly from the age of 35. Decreasing egg numbers with age is an important issue that reduces the success of in vitro fertilization. Again, egg quality and fertilization rates also decrease starting from the age of 35. There are many tests that help comment on this issue. The AMH test can provide information about the number of eggs to be obtained rather than the quality of the egg. According to research, women postpone marriage and becoming mothers not because in vitro fertilization treatment is available, but because they think they have not found the right man. However, our advice to women on this issue is that they should not postpone becoming a mother until their 40s, if possible. After the age of 40, things get much more difficult every year.
4. Do men's reproductive abilities decrease with age?
After female age, male sperm problems are the most important factor affecting pregnancy. Problems are due to DNA damage within the sperm, distorted sperm shapes and decreased quantity and motility. These problems are more common in men over 50. Women are born with a certain number of eggs in infancy and consume them at a certain rate. Men, on the other hand, constantly produce new sperm. However, it is also known that as men get older, their sperm quality deteriorates and their genes deteriorate. Therefore, our advice to men, although not as much as women, is not to postpone becoming a father until a very late age.
5. IVF The physical and emotional cost of treatmenti
The majority of couples describe in vitro fertilization treatment as a very tiring and even exhausting process, both financially and spiritually. Physical side effects include headache, insomnia, fatigue, abdominal bloating and emotional fluctuations. It is often experienced that the process of waiting for results is painful and tense. Psychological counseling services are usually provided separately in experienced and intensive centers. Of course, not every couple receives this service, but those who request it. Remember that you have the right to get support on this issue, and be prepared for some stress.
6. You cannot change the age and capacity of your ovaries.
Every woman experiences her most fertile period between the ages of 20 and 30. However, nature may have been more generous to some people and given them a rich ovarian capacity, while it may have been more unfair to others and even made them candidates for menopause at an early age. The same is true for men. It cannot always be explained why some men have hundreds of millions of sperm, while others have very few or even no sperm count. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment method available today for this injustice, which is mainly based on genetic characteristics. Remember, today's in vitro fertilization treatment cannot produce new eggs and sperm, but uses the existing ones. Perhaps this reality may change in the near future with the development of stem cell treatments. We hope this process does not take too long.
7. IVF risks of treatment
In vitro fertilization treatment is actually a safe procedure that has been used all over the world for more than 30 years and a lot of research has been done on it. Nowadays, there are generally no serious problems in treatments carried out by experienced physicians in an experienced center. Of course, as with every treatment type and intervention, unexpected problems such as 1-2% may occur. These are problems that can largely be solved with careful observation and experience. The most common problem is the problem we call overstimulation, which manifests itself with symptoms such as fluid accumulation in the abdomen, bloating, and the need for hospitalization, and it is seen around 1% in experienced centers. Apart from that, urban legends such as the use of hormone drugs causing cancer are not true. Do not forget that millions of children have been born through in vitro fertilization all over the world.
8. In the newspapers and on television, doctors about in vitro fertilization constantly appear and talk about new methods, which one should we believe?
Of course, in vitro fertilization treatment is an area where science progresses at a rapid pace, research is carried out, and is open to constant innovation. However, when someone appears in newspapers or on television and says, "We have found a brand new technique, there will be no one left without children", it is useful to approach it with a little skepticism. First of all, be sure to research this issue yourself on the internet and from accessible sources and examine whether it is based on scientific research or ask someone you trust. The centers, the number of which has reached 120 in Türkiye, focus heavily on advertising due to the competition between them.
9.There is no guarantee in in vitro fertilization treatment.
In vitro fertilization treatment is a very effective treatment method that allows having a baby in the presence of problems of various reasons. According to statistics, a total pregnancy rate of around 85% can be achieved after 3 attempts. However, with the single embryo transfer policy that has been implemented in Türkiye for the last two years, there is a pregnancy rate of 50-55% under the best conditions. Considering that even if pregnancy occurs, there is a 10-15% probability that it will result in miscarriage, the rate of a woman younger than 35 years of age taking her baby home with a single embryo transfer in the first two attempts is actually around 40-45% for each attempt under the best conditions. You should also question how reliable the centers that give you much higher figures or guarantees at the first meeting are.
10. When should I give up on in vitro fertilization treatment?
Theoretically, as long as egg can be obtained from the woman and sperm can be obtained from the man and transferred, there is a chance of pregnancy. However, if you are close to 45 years of age, if you have made more than three unsuccessful attempts, if you can barely obtain one embryo of poor quality despite the high doses of drugs given, if a transfer cannot be made, and if the financial situation has reached a level that will put you in trouble, sit down with your spouse and think again. Even if your center tells you to continue treatment, should you continue?
Best regards
Assoc. Dr. Selman Lacin