In-vitro fertilization (IVF) has proved to be a medical miracle treatment for couples who were told they couldn’t reproduce naturally. With Infertility being detected more often than previously, people are looking for other suitable ways to plan their families. Although IVF treatment has given couples a chance at pregnancy, subverting their physical limitations, we often get puzzled as to when it is the right time to consider an IVF.
“There is a rough rule of thumb that if a woman is less than the age of 30, it is advised to wait for a year before going in for the treatment. If she is more than 30, and actively trying to bear a child but gets no projecting results within six months, it is advised to consult an IVF medical expert. In today’s time, I believe, it is a sensible decision for couples to get their fertility checked even at a young age,” says the head of IVF team at MMC clinic, IVF Dubai, Dr Gautam Allahabadia.
Although IVF is often not the first choice of treatment for childless couples, in some cases it proves to be the best course of treatment. Gautam Allahbadia’s advice stands in line with the current societal sentiment where couples often lose out on the chance of a healthy pregnancy while they are most fertile, i.e. in their prime years.
One of the challenges couples face is the limited knowledge that surrounds IVF. Therefore, this makes it vital to know about your options before, so you find the right time to consider IVF.
Typically IVF is viewed as an option to opt for when:
- You have tried natural conceiving but have failed despite multiple attempts. “Many women think IVF is their first option, but the reality is that many fertility doctors will ask you to try natural pregnancy first. If you’re 30 to 35, you should try for at least six months, and if it’s not working, then you do a workup to see what to target,” says medical expert Dr. Fino Braganza.
- You are prepared to direct your time, financial resources and efforts into the procedure as IVF is a labor-intensive process, and requires both the medical professional and the couple to make coordinated efforts.
- If family balancing is something that you’d consider– IVF includes genetic testing, which screens the embryos for chromosomal defects, and a part of the chromosome report includes detecting the sex of the embryos.
- You want to reserve your healthy and young eggs for future pregnancies — with assisted reproductive technologies, when you know that your ovarian reserve is borderline, you can always bank your eggs and complete your family whenever you want.
Although IVF is often not the first choice of treatment for childless couples, in some cases it proves to be the best course of treatment. Dr Gautam Allahbadia says that super-low AMH levels, low sperm count, multiple miscarriages, and a genetic predisposition for certain disorders may all be the factors that help a doctor decide how quickly to recommend IVF.
IVF is not a cure-all for Infertility related problems, but it has been successfully able to make childless parents conceive. Albeit you should never have children before you are ready, but once you are, that’s when it is the right time to go for IVF.
