IVF
Babies by
ivfbabies.
It's
been 25 years since the first IVF baby was born. Since that time
the success rates have improved dramatically and IVF and other ART
related procedures such as ICSI have become more accessible. IVF
births now comprise around 1% of annual live births in the US and
up to 2% of annual live births in Australia. While this is not an
overly large number, it does mean that many people now know or know
of an IVF baby in their social circle or family.
So
who do IVF babies belong to? In recent years the media has played
up the stereotype of career driven women who have deliberately put
off childbearing until their late 30s because they are obsessed
by monetary gain and indulgent lifestyles. These women, who have
gone against the "natural" order of starting a family
at an early age, find that they cannot conceive naturally and need
intervention in the way of fertility treatments. Such coverage may
even go so far as to state that these women use IVF as something
that they can always count on - a way of escaping the natural consequences
of ageing. In countries such as Australia where a large proportion
of the cost of IVF is funded by the government through the national
health system (Medicare), this stereotype has been used by politicians
and social commentators to justify seeking limits on funding individual
IVF attempts.
It
is important to realise that infertility is a medical condition
and not a lifestyle choice. Although fertility decreases with advancing
age there are often many other factors that may influence infertility
- both known and unexplained. Infertility is not restricted to any
age group and many younger couples utilise IVF to achieve a pregnancy.
Looking
beyond the media stereotype we can see the diversity of people that
pursue IVF such as:
- younger
couples
- couples
with male factor issues such as low or no sperm count
- couples
where the male had a vasectomy is a previous relationship or at
an earlier time
- lesbian
couples
- couples
where one partner has suffered a spinal injury
- single
women
- couples
with secondary infertility who may have had an existing child
either conceived naturally or through IVF
- older
couples
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