Advantages Of In Vitro Fertilization

IVF stands for in vitro fertilization which mean ‘’in lab conception’’, or “out of the body conception”. This is the process in which matured eggs and sperm, either from a donor or the parents, are combined in a petri dish in the hopes of fertilization. This process enables couples who have fertility problems to have the chance to have children, but should it be used to choose the gender of your unborn baby?

IVF can be expensive, time-consuming, invasive and mentally and emotionally tiring but it is a procedure that is often used by couples wishing to start a family but are infertile for one reason or another, whether the fallopian tubes are blocked, or when male infertility cannot be overcome by with Intrauterine insemination (IUI) treatment.

This is usually collected during the ultrasound. The eggs are then removed from the follicles using needle connected to a suction device. The eggs are then placed in a liquid of saline and nutrients before they are incubated.

Fertilization: only the healthiest sperm collected from the male is used for fertilization. These sperm are determined by washing and spinning the sperm at high speeds. After two hours after the eggs are collected the sperm and eggs are mixed in the hope of fertilization and an embryo to be formed. If the ICSI opinion is being used, a single sperm is injected into each of the eggs at this stage.

Embryo transfer: when the embryo has divided into about eight cells, after about two-six days, one or two of the successful embryo will be placed back into the uterus. If more than one is transferred by it could lead to multiply pregnancies, which are more common amongst IVF procedures. The doctor uses the ultrasound machine and a long, thin needle which is inserted into the vagina and uterus to release the embryos into the uterus. For the pregnancy to be successful, it is hoped that the embryo will implant itself into the uterus about six-ten days later. However, IVF women are more likely to have an ectopic pregnancy in which the embryo attaches itself to the fallopian

As some countries such as china, still prefer to have boys over girls because they are ‘worth’ more to the family. Dr Sandra Hacker, chair of the Australian Health Ethics committee says “… The primary reason the public are against gender selection at the moment is that the existence of a human being shouldn’t be based on their gender.” Bob Phelps, director of Gene Ethics states; “Gender is a chance you take when having children. You shouldn’t choose it for lifestyle