Does In Vitro Fertilization Cause Infertility?
New facts and infertility rates are coming to light, which cast a shadow on IVF.
You’ll discover why you should never do IVF despite your doctor’s advice
In Vitro Fertilization was first pioneered in the 1970s with the first successful live birth occurring in 1978. At the time, and for many decades since, this process has been hailed as an absolute miracle. Would-be parents suffering from infertility have taken new hope to try again with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
What is IVF?
In Vitro Fertilization is a highly medicalized means of inducing pregnancy. It not only involves the fertilization of the egg outside the body, and implantation of the zygote into the uterus but also a fair amount of hormone medication and the harvest of eggs from the ovaries. The process is expensive and can be quite painful.
Such is the desire to have a baby that childless parents are willing to pay the monetary, emotional, and physical price.
Real IVF Success Rates
The idea of hailing IVF as a sure thing is far from accurate. In fact, only about 33% of all couples meet with success when using IVF. To further complicate the good news, according to IVF industry standards “success” is defined as a positive pregnancy test.
While this initial good news is sure to be a relief, the ultimate goal is the birth of a healthy baby. A positive pregnancy test simply does not translate to baby in some cases. A positive pregnancy test does not even always indicate a viable pregnancy.
It is not uncommon for a pregnancy test to read positive, but then the embryo fails to develop to the point where the heart beats. The heartbeat occurs at ten weeks of pregnancy and many IVF “successes” never even get that far.
To add another wrinkle to the layers of confusing numbers is number spinning. Number spinning and statistic reworking is often done to reflect a positive light on a specific In Vitro Fertilization doctor, clinic, or new technology. The numbers only tell part of the story, however. For example, a French IVF study recently reported that 66% of couples succeeded in having a baby. These numbers sound amazing–almost too good to be true–and they are.
When the numbers are examined, it was found that of the successful 66% of new parents; only 40% had their children while undergoing IVF treatment. There was also no mention of whether or not IVF could lay complete claim to the birth of the baby. What about the other 26%? It is true that the other 26% did have a baby, but after ceasing IVF. And 46% of that 26% were found to have found their eventual way to parenthood via adoption.
Aftermath of Successful Fertility Options
In spite of the dismaying numbers, hundreds of couples each year proudly and gratefully show off new babies conceived via the seemingly miraculous means of IVF. For these sets of parents, the story is over; they have their sought-for prize and life is good. The only problem is that new research has found a startling link between the increasing rates of successful live births via IVF and a sharp rise in infertility rates.
In plain English, it means that as IVF has been more successful, it has created the unwanted side effect of propagating infertility in the next generation. The last 13 years alone has seen twice the reported percentage of couples seeking fertility treatments (rising from 7% in 1995 to 15% in 2008).
The current trend is that these numbers will continue to increase. While some coldhearted Scrooge of a businessman may sight the benefits to business, this side effect is likely to have few others so glib at this rising tide of childless would-be parents.
IVF is not necessarily the lone villain responsible for the sharp increase of infertility rates. Drug use, abortions, the chronological advance in the average age of first time mothers, an increase in STDs among other causes are all being studied as possible culprits. Just as IVF is not the only cause, nor is it the cure.
Addressing Infertility caused by In Vitro
and the Root of the Problem
One of the main reasons IVF is not producing healthy, child-bearing babies is due to the very medical nature of the procedure. IVF does nothing to address or fix the underlying causes that cause a couple to be infertile in the first place. In fact, there is no medical procedure which does address the causes of infertility for the purpose of correcting and curing them. Instead, medical treatments operate on the premise of force.
Patients are given medications, which override the body’s natural systems and rhythms forcing it to act in a certain medically induced way. The doctor then capitalizes on this unnatural state to create a pregnancy.
Couples desperate to have a baby can hardly be faulted if they fail to stop and critically question what the possible toll these procedures might take on their child. After all, the emerging research showing unhealthy reproductive systems in IVF babies is very new. How could a medical professional or new parent possibly predict that this vigorously crying newborn could be anything other than completely healthy?
Other Solutions to Getting Pregnant
The silver lining is that just as emerging research is casting a blot on what was once thought to be the last great hope for couples struggling through infertility it is also shining a light on other fertility treatments.
These “new” options are really anything but new. Acupuncture, herbal remedies, and moxibustion have been used for centuries. What makes these fertility treatments new in medical eyes is that science is finally beginning to catch up with them.
These treatments work with the body in an entirely different way than typical medical fertility treatments. Instead of forcing and coercing the body these treatments work with the body to heal, and cure the root causes of infertility. They then go one step further to strengthen and support the now healthy reproductive system.
Another exciting prospect is that these natural treatments, when followed to the letter have success rates of producing pregnancy within 2-4 months.
Want to learn more? All the most current research has been compiled, cross-referenced, and organized into an easy to follow program in the book The Pregnancy Miracle.
