Assisted Reproduction

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

While there are no guarantees with advanced infertility 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 7,689 IVF/ICSI treatment cycles undertaken in 23 out of 25 IVF centres in Canada in 2005.

The overall pregnancy rate was 32% per cycle started, an increase of 6% since 1999 when data collection was first performed.

Complications occurred in fewer than 2% of treatment cycles.

68% of births were singletons
92% of the multiple births were twins

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

For women under 35 years old, the live birth rate was 39%
For women aged 35 to 39 years old, the live birth rate was 31%
For women 40 years old and over, the live birth rate was 19%

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 more advanced infertility treatments such as IVF, egg and sperm donation, surrogacy and embryo donation.