About 15 percent of all married couples in the United States have a tough time conceiving. Many turn to assisted reproductive technologies or ART, including in-vitro fertilization. A major, published study is shedding new light on the safety of infertility options.Submit
Little Keaya Hensleys first name is Hawaiian for rejoice. A perfect fit for the Hensleys, who tried unsuccessfully for a year-and-a-half to start their family.
Aaron Hensley told Ivanhoe, It was the hope cycle. Youd get excited about it. Youd be hopeful, and then youd be disappointed.
The Hensleys made the decision to try in-vitro fertilization.
Kristen Hensley said, I wanted to exhaust every avenue we could to have a child, and for me, if that means risks then that means risk.
A woman undergoing IVF takes fertility medication, has eggs harvested from her ovaries and fertilized and has an embryo placed into her uterus.
Serious risks are very rare and include severe bleeding which could cause stroke and ovarian hyper -stimulation syndrome, or OHSS, an overreaction to fertility medication.
Jennifer Kawwass, MD, Reproductive Endocrinologist at Emory Reproductive Center in Atlanta and her team studied data from just over 1,135,000 cycles performed in the U.S. in the past 12 years.
Dr. Kawwass said, The reported risk is actually reassuringly low.
Dr. Kawwass found the risk of serious bleeding to be less than 1% and the risk of OHSS, 1.5% at its peak.
For the Hensleys its great news as they look to add to their family circle. Kristen told Ivanhoe, Its the best miracle Ive ever experienced.
The research completed by Dr. Kawwass and her team was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers say in recent years, in an effort to improve patient safety, ovarian stimulation has become less aggressive. The procedure for egg retrieval is less invasive than when IVF first began, and Submitoverall pregnancy rates have improved.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Supervising Producer/Field Producer; Cortni Spearman, Assistant Producer and Jamison Koczan, Editor.
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