maria valles, ricardo chibás, daniela torres. outline the process of in vitro fertilization (ivf)
TRANSCRIPT
Fertilization “in glass”
Process of creating an embryo by artificially putting eggs and sperm together
Alternative method of creating an embryo/ biological baby
Referred to as “test tube babies”
What is IVF?
Louise Brown was the first IVF baby in the world. She was born in July of 1978 in England
Louise was 28 (in 2006) when she had her own baby (without IVF)
Hundreds of thousands of children are now born every year as a result of IVF
History
Stimulating multiple follicles to be able to retrieve the eggs
Fertilizing the eggs in the laboratory
Embryo transfer to the uterus
Overview
The cycle includes 19 shots, seven patches, and 126 pills◦ $5,000 (for drugs needed in 1 cycle)
2 weeks of estrogen pills to stop menstrual cycle◦ Doctor can “reset” the clock and monitor
process
Injecting: Follistim and Menopur◦ hormone extracted from the urine of
postmenopausal women
Goal → increase the number of eggs the body releases per month & strengthen them
1st step
Woman’s eggs are too small to be seen on an ultrasound
Halfway through the cycle doctor counts follicles in woman’s ovaries◦ Fluid-filled sacks the eggs grow inside
Track how well fertility medications are working
If not enough, process will have to start all over
Blood is drawn daily to track hormone levels
Tracking the process
Woman:◦ When eggs have grown and
matured → removed from uterus
◦ Process includes: pain medication, a doctor, nurses, a catheter, an ultrasound, a microscope, and an embryologist.
Man: ◦ Sperm retrieval
2nd step
ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection)
Minutes after extraction, embryologists implants one healthy sperm into each freshly removed egg
Several days later, embryologist looks at Petri dishes under a microscope to see whether any of the eggs has transformed into a blastocyst◦ the cluster of five cells that will
eventually divide
3rd step
Implementation
A catheter is used to snake the blastocyst inside the uterus
Place embryo in the exact spot
“Babies on ice” ◦ Remaining fertilized eggs
are frozen
4th step
The possible damage done to the Pre-embryo
Embryo's that are not transferred to the women's uterus, will be either destroyed or used for research purposes
The embryo could be considered living
Issue #1
The possible damage done to the infertile couple or the expected offspring by the physician.
The percentage of success when performing IVF, depends on the number of embryos transferred to the uterus. Therefore, the more transfers that are done, the greater the chance that the woman has of becoming pregnant.
This creates many risks for both the mother and the
embryo. To begin with, mental and physical threats are presented to the mother (these include: high blood pressure or uterine bleeding). Also, medical costs run high with issues such as these.
Issue #2
The possible damage done to the offspring by the couple using IVF
Multiple pregnancies can also affect the baby negatively
Issue #3