Present times have become highly inconsistent when it comes to general and reproductive health. However, Assisted Reproductive Technologies, like in-vitro fertilization, have made it possible for couples with fertility issues to achieve parenthood and have their baby. Putting the benefits aside, there are certain complications of IVF that one should be aware of. To understand these in vitro fertilization complications, it’s first important to understand how IVF works.
Process of In Vitro Fertilization
The whole process of IVF can be understood as under:
Triggering the Egg Production
The woman is given FSH - the Follicle Stimulating Hormone. This triggers the body to produce more than one egg per month. This provides the experts with more eggs to work with, which increases the chances of success.
Once the hormone is administered, the patient is continuously monitored with blood tests and trans-vaginal ultrasounds.
Egg Retrieval
After the first step, just a few days before the egg retrieval, hormones are injected for the eggs to mature quickly. On the day of the egg removal, the doctor uses a specialized suction syringe to suck the eggs from the ovaries.
Sperm Collection
The man gives the sperm sample, which is used to fertilize the egg retrieved from the woman.
Fertilization
In this step, the egg and the sperm are combined, and the sperm fertilizes the egg in a few hours. In another case, with the help of Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), the sperm is directly injected into the egg.
Transferring to Uterus
Soon after the eggs are collected, another medicine is given to the woman to prepare her uterus lining to facilitate the implantation of the embryo.
In the fifth step, the embryo is implanted in the uterus. Often multiple embryos are implanted to increase the chances of success. The embryo develops there, and on completion of the gestation cycle, the baby is born.
In-Vitro Fertilization Complications
There are chances of complications of IVF treatment. These in-vitro fertilization complications can be understood below.
- Stress: Many women who have undergone in-vitro fertilization have faced stress, making it one of the most common in vitro fertilization complications.
- Complications of IVF related to Egg-retrieval procedure:While retrieving the egg, the mucosal layer of the reproductive tract may get bruised and cause bleeding and sometimes infection.
- Premature delivery and low birth weight: This is another common IVF baby complication, which is quite common.
- Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome: Due to the use of injectable ovulation-stimulating medicines, like human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), the ovaries may get hyperstimulated. In this condition, the ovaries may swell and cause pain. However, it lasts only around a week and is not fatal.
- Multiple births: Due to the implantation of multiple embryos, multiple births are common, making it one of the most prevalent IVF baby complications.
- Miscarriage: The rate of miscarriage in women taking IVF treatment is high, ranging around 15-25%, especially in women who have crossed the normal age of conception.
- Ectopic pregnancy: In about 2-5% of cases, the women may have an ectopic pregnancy. In this case, the fertilized egg gets implanted in the fallopian tube.
- Wrong baby: This type of IVF baby complication is also prevalent. Often due to sampling or labeling errors and other causes, the woman ends up having an embryo implanted, which is partially related or unrelated. This type of error occurs due to the use of either the wrong sperm or the wrong egg sample, or both.
DNA Testing to Prevent In-vitro Fertilization Complications
As discussed earlier, in IVF, there are high chances of giving birth to a biologically unrelated baby. To avoid this IVF baby complication, it’s recommended to get a DNA Test.
DNA Forensics Laboratory Pvt. Ltd. has been providing IVF Baby DNA Tests for years, helping couples get their share of the mental peace while and after undergoing the process of In-Vitro Fertilization Complications.
Moreover, one should choose the best and most trusted IVF center, having the highest success rate, to avoid in-vitro fertilization complications.