Preliminary Individual Topical Paper

Background

In vitro fertilization treatment was first founded in 1978, which also marked the first successful birth of a “test-tube baby”. Success rates were relatively low then, but specialists and professionals continue to embark on their research based on the “test-tube baby”. As technology advances with medical breakthroughs, success rates increased tremendously: In 1985, there was only 5% success rate of pregnancy, while fast forward in 2006, that number had climbed to just under 30 percent.

Issues/Challenges

Issue -> Around 1 in 4 couples will have twins for those who successfully conceived, in comparison with 1 in 80 in the population. This may seem like a blessing, but it increases the chances of miscarriage and even complications.

Religious issues -> Catholics believe that new lives should be created with the closest intimacy between the husband and wife.

Social issues -> Same sex couples are able to have genetically linked children on their own.

Emotional -> The first procedures of IVF require the fertilisation of the sperm and embryo, after which inserting into the women’s ovaries. However, the success rates ranges from 30% to 50%, which means there is a 50% to 70% chance of not being able to conceive successfully. This will cause additional emotional distress to parents as their last hope has been killed. This may lead to depression of the mother.

Ethical -> The careful selection of embryos sparks controversy. To avoid inheritable diseases, embryos are carefully selected and the only the best embryos will be chosen to transfer to the women’s uterus. Through this process, are we playing God by altering genes? The issue of artificial contraception is itself a controversy too. Should we play God?

Despite these challenges, most countries legalized IVF and recognized it as a solution for infertility.

Key Observation

IVF has revolutionized the medical arena in the area of child birth. In the world today, 1 out of 7 couples have difficulties conceiving. With the increasing stress levels around the world, these numbers are increasing rapidly. Infertility could be due to either the men or women or due to unexplained causes. Therefore, the introduction of In Vitro Fertilization can offer hope to such parents. It also enables older women to conceive despite their age.

àSuccess rate for women below 35 is 47.6% and for above about 30%

Also, the selection of embryos allows the detecting of genetic abnormalities and avoiding of inheritable diseases before implanting the eggs into the patient. This is very beneficial since some women have a higher risk for having a child affected by various complications.

Discussion and Analysis

I personally support IVF treatments. Although it may have raised certain controversial issues, it is undoubtedly a breakthrough in the medical field and for mankind. Children are our future and their innocence makes the world a better place to live in. Thus, since infertile parents are given an opportunity to conceive, why deny them of a chance to? Also, with the decline in population growth in developed countries, IVF will certainly encourage infertile parents to have children of their own.

Will IVF one day be one of the solutions to the declining population growth in developed countries?

Taking things forward

One of the rising factor that is affecting infertility is the large amount of stress faced by working populations and their diets. Therefore, IVF can provide as a solution to this problem. Also, many couples in the developed world are postponing marriages and having kids. IVF is projected to be widely used by not only infertile couples but also those who want to give birth at a later age. 25% of all couples might eventually be undergoing IVF to conceive in the future.