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Since I've been trying to have a baby for the last six years, with three miscarriages to show for my pain, I am probably one of the most informed people you will EVER talk to about this topic, so, let's use this opportunity as an educational one.
Someone else has already asked whether or not eggs are KILLED during infertility treatments. The answer is NO. During an Invitro Fertilization procedure (which can include egg donation from other women), a woman is given medication to increase her egg production. These drugs are not fun, and are given in a variety of ways, including needles. The increased hormone rates are not fun, and side affects can include weight gain, migraines, and mood swings.
Eggs are retrieved in an outpatient procedure, and then fertilized. Good fertilization rates are considered to be 60-70%. This means some eggs will not fertilize. (Please note that a lack of fertilization is not "killing them.") Embryos are then monitored between three and five days (depending on the clinic) before transferring them to a woman's uterus. Extras are frozen for future attempts.
Fresh transfers have a pregnancy success rate between 50-65%. Frozen transfers average around 35%. Pregnancy success rates do not always translate to live births, since 20-35% of ALL pregnancies result in miscarriages generally (depending on which statistics you believe), and these rates also apply to infertility pregnancies.
One of the hardest decisions people going through infertility treatments have to make is what to do with "extra" embryos. Usually the highest quality ones are used first, so "the last ones" don't always have a good chance of implanting (aka getting someone pregnant), but it can be very difficult giving up the hope of a desperately wanted pregnancy, and the cost of a frozen transfer is significantly less than that of a fresh transfer, and "it only takes one" is a mantra used by all women undergoing infertility treatments. The quality of the embryo is important when making these decisions; it must also be acknowledged that failed attempts can be emotionally devastating, and it can be hard to pick yourself up to "try again" after one.
Another issue is "what do you do with the extras if you ARE successful?" If you get twins on your first two tries, but you still have five frozen embryos, what do you do? Some people are comfortable donating them to women with non-functioning ovaries (think cancer patients, for example), while others are NOT comfortable with the idea of someone else raising their biological offspring, and ask for the remainder to be destroyed since donating them to science is no longer allowed under this administration. The cost of keeping the embryos frozen for future attempts varies, with $500 per year being an average amount.
Any other questions? I will be happy to answer them.
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