Family expansion planning or becoming parents is different for different couples. You may have to struggle a lot in your parenthood journey. You may start noticing issues as you plan it and start moving it. And your efforts might be worthless due to several reasons such as age and medical conditions. You may think of having IVF treatment after knowing or having suggestions for ART or assisted reproductive technology treatments. Before you move to get its benefits for your family expansion plan, you should know what it is, its advantages, importance, and facts. Keep reading the post.
What is ART?
In general, ART or assisted reproductive technology is a technical advancement in the medical field to assist childless couples in their parenthood journey. It consists of artificial ovulation and fertilisation of eggs outside of a human body. It consists of treatments for both male infertility and female infertility. And the techniques used in ART are IVF, IUI, ICSI, PESA/TESA, etc. In vitro fertilisation or IVF is the most popular and effective treatment option in comparison with all other ART services.
Advantages of ART
Apart from infertility treatments, ART has facilitated genetic screening and helped to know the genetic disorders causing fertility problems and birth defects. Here are some benefits of ART:
- It enables females with tubal damage/blockage and allied reproductive health issues to have a child
- ART treats severe infertility in males
- Higher success rate
- Facilitate same sex couples or single parent to have kids
- Reduced risks of miscarriages
Importance of ART
As per a study, approximately 5-10% of couples have infertility that causes them not to have children through a natural process. The advent of ART in 1978 has been a boon for such couples. With each passing day, it has gone through several advancements and helped a lot of couples, same sex couples, and single parent to have choildren. The number of people opting for ART is on an instant rise path.
5 Facts on ART
Since the birth of a test tube baby, Louise Joy Brown, on 25 July 1978 in England, ART has gone through several phases. Day-by-day, its popularity is rising. With time, it has an association with a few myths and facts that you should know. Here are some of them:
- IVF causes multiple births – ART treatments, especially IVF, causes multiple pregnancies or births. It happens due to the transplantation of many healthy fertilised eggs (embryos) in a female’s uterus. The technology has gone through several advancements and lowered the chances of having multiple births. Further, a highly experienced and skilled IVF doctor with proper care during the treatment can help you avoid having multiple pregnancies or births.
- It is helpful only for infertile people – IVF is only of females with an inability to conceive naturally. Females with other reproductive health issues such as tubal blockage and uterine fibroids apart from infertility opt for IVF. Apart from IVF, it has other treatment options to correct the problems in the female reproductive system. It has facilitated same sex couples and single parents to have kids.
- Age is no bar – All ART services or treatment options have age limitations. With age, it is hard to conceive naturally or artificially. If you conceive over 40 or 45, you will face a lot of problems to carry your pregnancy and give birth to a healthy baby. Most ethical fertility specialists avoid using ART if patients are over 45.
- Babies with ART have birth defects – Kids born with IVF or any ART treatment methods are likely to have birth defects, growth delays, and low birth weight. Usually, children born through ART are smaller. ART has evolved a lot with time and it is still under ongoing advancements. It is hoped that birth defects and allied issues with babies will be sorted out in the future.
- Higher success ratio – The success rate depends on a lot of parameters, including age, reproductive health issues, and previous medical history. It goes down with the age of patients.
Conclusion
Being aware of ART and the associated myths & facts will be highly beneficial for you. With it, you can decide whether you opt for ART to have a biological child or adopt a baby to become parents. You will enjoy what you decide.
