One in eight American couples experience infertility problems, which makes pregnancy seemingly impossible. In the past, couples would have resigned to just adopt children or live barren lives, but there are so many infertility treatments available today that people are visiting the infertility clinics sooner rather than later. New infertility methods are coming up all the time now that researchers are focusing their efforts on this common issue.
One of the most common treatments for infertility is to complete one to three cycles of ovarian stimulation and intrauterine insemination, says Guy Ringler M.D. By giving patients the drug Clomid, this will encourage women to produce more eggs. This method of treatment “will increase the pregnancy rate from about 3% per month to about 12-15% in women under age 40,” he says, “and to about 5-7% in those over age 40.”
He says that most couples come to an infertility clinic requesting the more aggressive techniques because they don’t want to waste any time and the more invasive methods have proven to be more effective than medications.
If the initial medicine infertility treatments do not work within three months, then most patients will then ask their infertility doctor about more aggressive techniques, like in vitro fertilization, where the woman’s eggs are surgically removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilized with the man’s sperm in a laboratory setting, and then implanted back into the uterus. Guy Ringler explains, “With IVF, if the woman is under age 40, the pregnancy rate is about 40% in the first attempt.” However, for women 40-42, the success rate drops down to about 15% and less than 5% for women over age 42. Regardless of these statistics, IVF continues to be the most-sought-after female infertility treatment for women of all ages.
Many couples wonder what these newfangled infertility treatments will end up costing them. IVF treatments cost up to $12,000 per cycle, says the American Society for Reproduction Medicine. Ovarian stimulation plus intra-uterine insemination is about $500 to $1,000 per cycle. Depending on the state and the policy selected, some insurance companies will partially cover infertility services and procedures, while others will not. Currently, about 15 states have specific laws regarding treatment and insurance, says the National Infertility Association, but the laws vary, so couples should call the insurance commissioner’s office in their state to find out the details.
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