Timing IVF? – Dr Gautam Allahbadia explains what is the right time to consider an IVF

With Infertility being detected more commonly than before, people are looking for other suitable ways to plan their families. Introduction of miracle treatments such as In-vitro fertilization (IVF) has proved to be a great alternate route for couples who were told they couldn’t reproduce naturally.  Although IVF treatment has given couples a chance at pregnancy, subverting their physical limitations, couples often get puzzled about the right time to consider IVF. 

“There is a rough rule of thumb that if a woman is less than the age of 30, it is advised to wait for a year before going in for the treatment. If she is more than 30, and actively trying to bear a child but gets no results within 6 months, it is advised to consult an IVF medical expert. In today’s time, I believe, it is a sensible decision for couples to get their fertility checked even at a young age,” says the head of the IVF team at MMC IVF, Dubai, Dr Gautam Allahbadia.

Gautam Allahbadia’s advice stands in line with the current societal sentiment where couples often lose out on the chance of a healthy pregnancy while they are most fertile.

Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) have made significant advances considering its increasing preference – which has further been bolstered by the changing lifestyle of people along with their physical and cognitive conditioning. Also, couples are getting married and deferring childbearing unless they are completely settled in life. By the time they begin family planning, it is a little too late. So for couples who’ve reached an advanced parental age, IVF is an option worth considering. That said, treatment at a younger age improves both the success rate of the pregnancy and chromosomal normalcy.

The right time to consider IVF is when:

1. Natural conception isn’t working for you- “Many women think IVF is their first option, but the reality is that many fertility doctors will ask you to try natural pregnancy first. If you’re 30 to 35, you should try for at least six months and if it’s not working, then you do a workup to see what to target,” says medical expert Dr. Fino Braganza.
2. You are prepared to dedicate your time, financial resources and efforts into the procedure- IVF is a labour intensive process, and requires the investment of time, efforts and emotions.
3.  You are considering the option of family balancing – IVF includes genetic testing, which screens the embryos for chromosomal defects, and a part of the chromosome report includes detecting the sex of the embryos.
4. You want to reserve your ‘healthy and young’ eggs for future pregnancies- With assisted reproductive technologies, when you know that your ovarian reserve is borderline, you can always bank your eggs and complete your family whenever you want.

Although IVF is often not the first choice of treatment for childless couples, in some cases it proves to be the best course of treatment. Super-low AMH levels, low sperm count, multiple miscarriages, and a genetic predisposition for certain disorders may all be the factors that help a doctor decide how quickly to recommend IVF.

IVF is not a cure-all for infertility related problems, but it has been successfully able to make childless parents conceive happiness they thought they couldn’t possess. Albeit you should never have children before you are ready, but once you are- that’s when it is the right time to go for IVF!