Assisted Reproduction

If drug therapies and surgery do not resolve a couple’s fertility issues, the next step may be treatments known as assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

While there are no guarantees with these fertility treatments, the success rates are encouraging.

Under the leadership of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society and the IVF Medical Directors of Canada, in vitro fertilization (IVF) centres in Canada voluntarily participate in the collection of nationwide data on the results of assisted reproduction. Live birth rates were reported for a combined total of 9,904 IVF/ICSI treatment cycles undertaken in 28 IVF centres in Canada in 2008.

The overall live birth rate was 29% per cycle started.

Complications occurred in fewer than 2% of treatment cycles.

71% of births were singletons
97% of the multiple births were twins

As expected, the woman’s age had a strong influence on live birth rate:

For women under 35 years old, the live birth rate was 38%
For women aged 35 to 39 years old, the live birth rate was 28%
For women 40 years old and over, the live birth rate was 11%

Understandably, many couples at this point in the treatment process are drained both physically and emotionally. Facing another round of unfamiliar procedures may seem overwhelming to some. Learning about the procedures and various options available may help to alleviate some of your anxieties.

This section gives you a solid grasp of fertility treatments such as IVF, egg and sperm donation, surrogacy and embryo donation.