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5 Myths About In Vitro Fertilization

July 2, 2025 0Comments

When a couple is faced with a diagnosis of infertility, and their treating doctor recommends In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) as the appropriate treatment for the search for pregnancy, the fears associated with this procedure begin to invade every thought and emotion that is related to the situations that may arise because of this technique.

Will I have a multiple pregnancy?, Are there negative effects on my body?, How safe is the pregnancy?, Is it painful?, are some of the questions that go through the minds of those patients who need this technique to make the dream of being parents come true.

While it is true that there are multiple factors that must be analyzed with the specialist when deciding to start IVF treatment, there are also many myths associated with this assisted reproduction technique, which we will clarify below:

FALSE

A few years ago, this treatment was related to multiple pregnancies because it was necessary to bring several embryos into their mother’s uterus to improve the chances of success. However, today we have better embryo culture techniques that allow us to take the embryos to stages of better development, making possible a better embryo selection and an embryo transfer with a greater chance of success. In this way, it is no longer important to bring several embryos into the uterus to achieve a good success rate. It is important to clarify that the transfer of several embryos does not guarantee a multiple pregnancy either. The possibility or risk of two embryos implanting, when we transfer more than one, is 20%.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL

IVF is a treatment that consists of 4 key moments that can generate different reactions in the patient, however, it is not a procedure that requires prolonged rest or prevents the normal development of activities.

  • Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation: through drugs, almost always injected subcutaneously, the ovaries are stimulated for the maturation of multiple follicles at the same time. This procedure can be annoying because of the daily injection that is required and because once the follicles have grown, you may feel some discomfort in the abdomen such as heaviness.
  • Egg retrieval or ovarian puncture: this procedure is perhaps the most careful because it requires an intervention in the procedure room under sedation. However, it is ambulatory and with a rapid recovery of consciousness. It is normal to feel some abdominal discomfort after the procedure. However, the complication rate is less than 1% when performed by the trained physician.
  • Semen sample collection: this process is carried out through masturbation, therefore, it does not generate any pain or discomfort in the patient. It can be distressing or uncomfortable or generate mental blockage of the arousal that is required to achieve the collection of the sample. That is why there is almost always the possibility of collecting the sample at home in a more intimate and quiet environment.
  • Embryo transfer: this procedure is outpatient and does not require anesthesia. It can be uncomfortable because it requires the use of a vaginal speculum as when taking the Pap smear. However, it does not cause pain and there is the possibility of doing so under sedation when patients have a history of vulvar diseases that hinder tolerance to vaginal speculum.

FALSE

Assisted reproduction treatments are managed under probabilities of success. There are no certainties, since each patient is a universe to be discovered, and depending on their pathologies or circumstances, pregnancy percentages can be increased or decreased.

It is important to know that there are programs that seek to give the patient a better cumulative success rate at the end of their treatment and each reproductive medicine center designs these plans depending on their own statistics and success rates.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL

Because IVF requires ovarian stimulation through hormones, some alterations may occur in your body or mood, however, it is important to keep in mind that the treating doctor will look for the best option to affect these aspects as little as possible in the patient and these effects are always reversible in the short term after finishing the treatment. In some circumstances you may feel in the middle of treatment as if you were already pregnant, due to these temporary hormonal changes.

Pregnancies resulting from fertility treatments can be carried to term as a natural gestation. Being the product of assisted reproduction techniques does not mean that there will be complications associated with the treatment. However, it is important to keep in mind medical recommendations and pre-existing diseases, since, as in any pregnancy, special situations may arise that require greater attention and changes in management protocols.

The most important thing to consider in the middle of an assisted reproduction treatment, such as IVF/ICSI, is to have a specialist doctor who can guide you through the process and thus resolve all the concerns associated with this reproductive technique.

Although all cases have particularities, depending on the medical history of each person, with an accurate diagnosis and constant accompaniment, the best option can be sought to make the desire to become parents come true.

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