Until how old can you do IVF in Ukraine?

Modern medicine has touched all important branches of human life.

In Vitro Fertilization (hereinafter IVF) is a modern method of safe conception of a child, which will allow couples with reproductive problems to become parents. 

The essence of the procedure

1.     The egg is removed from the woman’s body.
2.     Sperm are removed from the body of a man. 
3.     Fertilization occurs outside the woman’s body.
4.     The “egg-sperm” complex is placed in an incubator for 5-6 days.
5.     Inserting a fertilized egg into a woman’s body. 
6.     Monitoring the attachment of the embryo to the wall of the uterus and its further development. 

 Of course, before and after the in vitro fertilization procedure, laboratory tests are carried out for the necessary range of tests (both mandatory for everyone and special ones that are prescribed on an individual basis). 

Age range for IVF procedure

There are several types of IVF depending on the egg donor, therefore, age restrictions for this procedure have their own characteristics and limitations. 

• IVF with the use of the patient’s egg cell, which is performed. The maximum age of a woman in this case is 44 years. 
• IVF using the donor’s egg. The maximum age of the recipient for this procedure is 51 years. 

The most optimal age for IVF is the age range 18-35. It is at this age that a woman’s body is maximally prepared for conception, gestation and childbirth.

You can find out in more detail about alternative procedures that will help you create a complete family on the website of the surrogacy agency here . 

Why IVF is not recommended for women over 51 years old

The in vitro fertilization procedure has a clearly defined age range, which was determined by a combination of a number of physiological factors of the female body:

• pregnancy is too much stress on the woman’s body, therefore, with age, the strength of the body decreases 
• the functions of the reproductive system fade away, the number of maturing oocytes required for the maturation of the embryo decreases; at the same time, the older the woman, the more oocytes are required for the formation of one embryo (up to 35 years – 9 oocytes, after 50 – more than 100); 
• physiological ovarian depletion
• serious hormonal changes occur (in particular, with regards to female sex hormones); 
• a higher risk of spontaneous miscarriages, since changes and disruptions in the menstrual cycle occur.

Dependence of effectiveness on age

The effectiveness of IVF directly depends on the state of the woman’s body and the physiological processes taking place in it. All these factors are directly related to the physiological and biological ages of a woman. 

The diagram illustrates the strong relationship between age and in vitro fertilization performance. The most dramatic decrease in the likelihood of a favorable outcome is observed after 43 years.

IVF is a procedure that can provide effective assistance to families who really want, but cannot, for a number of reasons, conceive a child. The main rule for the procedure is a timely appeal to a specialist until the regression of the functions of the reproductive and hormonal systems occurs.