WHEN IS IT TIME FOR IVF?
All couples that could not naturally conceive for more than six months (if the woman is older than 35) or a year (if the woman is younger than 35) are referred to the in vitro fertilization procedure. If you went through all necessary analyses for checking of your fertility and all other methods have failed (for example: insemination), you will be referred to IVF. Since reproductive potential of a woman decreases with age, the Republic Health Insurance Fund does not finance in vitro fertilization procedure for women older than 43. The general opinion of medical experts is that there is very low probability of success of IVF in this age, therefor, these patients are rather referred to reproductive cell or embryo donation, which we will talk about later on.
WHO NEED IVF AND WHY?
The most common reason of IVF is blocked fallopian tubes due to inflammation or tumors or removed fallopian tubes due to ectopic pregnancy or other reason. These conditions indicate in-vitro fertilization in approximately 45% of cases. Other reasons can be endometriosis or immunological reasons of infertility. On the male side, the reasons can be reduced sperm mobility, poor morphology, and a greater number of pathological forms of sperm. This is found in about 35% of cases. Marital sterility, where both spouses are healthy and no reason for the sterility is detected, is the reason for IVF in about 20% of cases. Before in vitro fertilization, couples, i.e., women, in addition to gynaecological examination, ultrasound examination, and other necessary tests, can be referred to additional interventions and analyses.
