How long does it take to get pregnant through Assisted Reproductive Technologies?

For some people, getting pregnant can take longer than expected. For others, it happens with one mistake in birth control. It is important to adopt a healthy lifestyle and avoid alcohol, smoking, and recreational drugs. The timing for one couple can differ from the other. Your likelihood of conceiving depends on age, health, and family and medical history. 

How often you have sex also plays a major role. If you are facing difficulties, opt for Assisted Reproductive Technologies, such as IVF treatment, Intrauterine Insemination, Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, etc.

When should you approach a specialist?

Most couples can get pregnant within six months to a year. If you are unable to conceive after a full year of trying, it is a good idea to consult a fertility specialist. Sometimes, there is an obvious cause of infertility, such as a physical problem with the ovaries, uterus, or testicles. In others, the cause remains unknown.

How long does it take to get pregnant?

Women have the best odds of getting pregnant while in their 20s. You have the largest number of healthy eggs at this age. Fertility naturally declines. The older you are, the longer it might take you to conceive. You are born with all the eggs you ever have. As you get older, the egg supply diminishes. By age 35, you have only a 12% chance of getting pregnant within three months. 

By the time you turn 40, it declines to 7%. While medical advancements are at the forefront, doctors and specialists at the best IVF clinic in Chennai will put in all their efforts to make your treatment successful. Men’s fertility also reduces with age.

How common is infertility?

Studies reveal that one out of every eight couples have trouble getting pregnant or carrying their pregnancies to term. You should, however, visit a fertility specialist if you are 35 or younger and are trying to get pregnant for at least a year. You may also require treatment if you are over 35 and trying for more than six months.

Treatments for infertility

Fertility specialists at the best IVF centre offer various treatments. Which method the doctor recommends depends on your age, health, and causes of fertility issues. Let us dive deeper into these treatments:

Medicines

A few medicines, such as follicle-stimulating hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, progesterone, and other injections, are usually used to stimulate women’s ovaries to release eggs.

Surgery

Surgery is a treatment for male and female infertility. Surgical procedures for men can fix a varicocele, clear up a sperm blockage, or retrieve semen from their reproductive tract. For women, surgery can fix physical problems with the ovaries or uterus.

Assisted Reproductive Technology

ART involves combining the sperm from the male and eggs from the female outside the body and then placing the embryos into her uterus. The main type of ART is In Vitro Fertilisation. Before IVF, the female gets a series of injections to help her ovaries produce multiples of eggs. Once those eggs are mature, they are removed using a simple surgical procedure.

The eggs are fertilised with her partner’s sperm. Fertilised eggs, known as embryos, are grown in the lab for a few days. One or two good-quality embryos are then transferred into the uterus. Other ARTs include ICSI treatment, assisted hatching, donor sperm and eggs, and surrogacy.

In the ICSI procedure, the doctor takes one healthy sperm and injects it directly inside the centre of the egg. The doctors monitor the embryo’s development and let you start a family. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection is usually performed wherein the man has a low sperm count or abnormally poor sperm motility. If the doctor injects the sperm directly into the egg, chances of successful fertilisation are greatly increased. It also increases the success rate.

Intrauterine Insemination

This method is also called artificial insemination, where the man produces a sperm sample, which is injected using a catheter into the woman’s uterus around the time of ovulation. She may get medicine beforehand to help her ovulate.

Conclusion

It is important to note that none of the procedures can guarantee a 100% success rate. When the doctor injects the sperm directly into the egg in ICSI, fertilisation need not necessarily take place. If it does, the embryo must attach to the uterine lining to develop into a foetus. Other treatment options you can try are sperm, egg, or embryo donors and freezing.