If a couple decided to go through with the treatment they must be aware that six out of seven tries at IVF do not work, the clinics often encourage couple to keep having the treatments (if they can afford it) as they still make large profits from failed treatments. On average each treatment per try cost between £3-4,000. If a couple needs more than four or five tries (the average amount of treatments couples have) it becomes an exclusive luxury just for the wealthy. The National Health Service (NHS) sometimes help with the funding but it depends on where the couple lives, their income and status.
Many women these days are putting off having children in order to have a career first, this means that if they find out they have a fertility problem they have less time (biologically) to have treatment. This means that more women in their forties are having IVF, the success rate for this age group is only 5% and they also have the added risk of their child having a disability. This could mean that they abort a child they have been having treatment to conceive.
There can also be side effects from the fertility drugs (often used to stimulate the ovaries) including depression, hot flushes and some people believe there maybe a link with ovarian cancer; but this has not been proved and the long term effects of using the drugs are not known, especially with repeated use.
A failure in an IVF treatment can cause tension and stress between the couple and the couple can get very misled and confused by information given out by clinics about life birth rates although legally they have to give out correct data. They often change their success rate, this confuses couples when they decide where to have their treatment.
Another negative side of IVF, which is not commonly known, is that there are many multiple births, one in three successful IVF births are multiple births. Couples who have had multiple births from IVF treatments think that the risks of this happening should be made clearer with more information available to potential IVF parents. Twins from IVF are five times as likely to die in their first year and triplets are ten to fifteen times as likely to die in their first year and most IVF babies are born premature.
Although when IVF works and gives an infertile couple a healthy baby it is an amazing act of science, but people should be aware of the down sides and problems it can cause for the couples finances and emotional well being if it goes wrong. People should also think much more seriously about: Are children a right or a gift?