Fertillity Treatments
Going abroad for IVF or donor sperm treatment is not just about saving money, avoiding waiting lists or lack of access. Having the procedure carried out in a relaxing environment can greatly improve the success rate as experts have proved that the more relaxed couples are, the higher the chance of success. Furthermore, telling family and friends that you are simply on vocation – you can choose to have complete privacy!
Many couples are now considering going abroad for fertility treatment.
Both women and men can have problems that cause infertility. Not being able to get pregnant after one year of trying it’s considered as infertility. Or, six months, if a woman is 35 or older. Women who can get pregnant but are unable to stay pregnant may also be infertile.
About one-third of infertility cases are caused by man’s problems. Another one third of fertility problems are due to the women. The other cases are caused by a mixture of female and male problems or by unknown problems.
Whether issues of infertility are troubling the female or male in the relationship, fertility treatment can help these couples conceive and carry a child to term. The ultimate goal of fertility treatment is a healthy pregnancy and the birth of a healthy baby.
There are many types of Infertility treatment using surgery, hormones and Assisted Reproductive Technology with the most common type being In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
The first steps in fertility treatment are almost always drugs. Frequently, infertility in women and men in the same manner arises from improperly balanced hormones. Since the side effects for these drugs are relatively moderate, doctors may prescribe them before reaching a specific diagnosis.
Artificial insemination, sometimes used in conjunction with hormone and drug therapy, often increases couples benefit of conception. In lots of cases, insufficient or weak sperm – do not have the energy to reach the egg. To effectively improve chances for conception in cases like this, concentrated doses of sperm from the male partner can be deposited in the uterus.
When irreparably blocked fallopian tubes or seminal vesicles or the body simply cannot accommodate fertilization, in vitro fertilization is a proven option. In this procedure, eggs and sperm from the couple are combined in a laboratory. Once fertilization occurs, the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus where it develops naturally.
Rarely, in fertility treatments, surgery is sometimes necessary. Ovarian cysts may need to be removed or fallopian tubes widened. Surgical treatments require very little recovery time being minimally invasive. However, repeat checkups with a fertility doctor are almost always necessary and treatment can be lengthy.
Artificial Insemination Treatment
Average Price in the USA: $950
Possible savings abroad: 74%
Many single women and lesbians have successfully conceived and given birth by means of sperm provided by a donor, enabling women to conceive without the need for a permanent male partner or heterosexual intercourse.
For male-female couples, the procedure is useful when the male partner suffers from low sperm count or poor sperm transportability or when the female partner suffers from a sperm allergy.
Artificial insemination (AI) was developed or to help couples with infertility problems.
The procedure is usually performed without anesthetic, involves no incisions or surgical alterations so recovery is instantaneous and takes under an hour.
Women are generally required to establish the correct time for the procedure to be performed using an ovulation detection kit and to take fertility drugs prior to the procedure as well as.
The process involves insertion of the laboratory prepared concentrated sperm into the uterus via a flexible, thin tube fed through from the vagina.
If fertilization is unsuccessful then it may be necessary to repeat the procedure before deciding if an alternative course of treatment is necessary.
In-Vitro Fertilization Treatment
Average Price in the USA: $14,500
Possible savings abroad: 74%
In vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment is used to treat couples where one or both partners have complications that result in the female’s inability to get pregnant and when all other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed.
IVF is usually used for women who have blocked or damaged fallopian tubes or when male has a low sperm count, but there are other fertility treatments available in these cases.
In-vitro fertilization (IVF) is one of the techniques used to assist couples have a baby. The term In Vitro Fertilization literally means “fertilization in glass” and refers to “immature” eggs which are removed from the ovaries and put in a laboratory to mature before being fertilized. IVF involves stimulating a woman’s ovaries to produce lots of eggs and follicles, then surgically removing an egg from ovaries and finally in a laboratory fertilizing it with sperm in a dish. This eliminates the need for so many drugs to mature the eggs before removing them.
The embryo (fertilized egg) is then placed back into the woman’s uterus for a normal pregnancy to follow. It is necessary for the female to take hormone supplements over the next few weeks to increase the chances of the embryos attaching to the wall of the womb.
The success rate of IVF, more than anything, it seems that is according the age of the woman – the younger the woman is the healthier her eggs which apparently increases the chance of success, but each case is different so a woman aged 45 could be as fertile as a younger woman in her twenties.
IVF treatment is non invasive; general anesthetic is not required, but a sedative may be given. Patients will have to lie still for about an hour while the embryos are being placed into the womb and then the patient is free to go home.
Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection Treatment
Average Price in the USA: $6,500
Possible savings abroad: 75%
Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is an in vitro procedure used mostly when there are problems with the male sperm, due to quantity or quality. The female eggs are obtained using surgical aspiration (a needle is inserted through the women’s vagina and into the ovary to extract the eggs). A single sperm is injected into the cytoplasm of a “ripe” egg- so the chances of a successful fertilization are increased dramatically. After approximately 18 hours, if there are signs of a successful fertilization, the fertilized egg is then placed back into the woman’s womb.
The treatment has been used for over 10 years. Successful fertilization of eggs is quite high, at about 50 to 80 percent, but a lower 30 percent chance of giving birth to a healthy baby.
If there are problems with the female’s eggs, ICSI is not a recommended.
ICSI is non evasive and does not require recovery, the woman will be able to resume all normal activities shortly after.
Testicular Sperm Aspiration Treatment
Testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) is used when sperm is not present in the male ejaculate, but is present in the testes, due to spinal cord injuries, making impossible for ejaculation to occur or obstructive azoospermia, as the result of the male reproductive tract being blocked.
TESA must be used in conjunction with other fertilization techniques such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) because the numbers of sperm are limited although this method enables doctors to harvest sperm directly from the testes.
Procedure is a pain-free, carried out under local anesthetic, allowing a doctor to make a small incision in the scrotum, exposing the testicles. Patients are usually out of the surgery about an hour after the procedure is completed. The patient should not notice anything other than mild discomfort and possibly a little swelling for a few days.
Complications are very rare. Complications can include the blood supply loss to one testicle- causing it to die, since the needle which is used is bigger in diameter than the intratesticular artery – so can dissect it.
Sperm Donation
Donor insemination (DI) is artificial insemination using sperm from a donor to help an individual woman wishing to have a baby without a partner or couples – become pregnant if they are unable to conceive naturally due to poor quality sperm, low sperm count, or due to risk of an inherited disease.
Egg Donation
Egg donation is becoming an increasingly popular choice as a method of assisted reproduction (infertility treatment) and is part of an IVF process as the eggs are fertilized in a laboratory. The procedure involves a woman providing one or several eggs (usually 10-15) for the purposes of infertility treatment, making possible for women who are beyond their reproductive years or who have had their menopause to become pregnant.
Success rate is higher of 60% and if a “fresh cycle” is followed by a “frozen cycle”, the success rate goes up to even 80%.