IVF and Gender Selection: Success Rates and Outcomes (2023)

FAQs

What is the success rate of IVF for gender selection? ›

IVF with PGT

Parents can expect a nearly 99-100% success rate in determining the sex of the child with this method.

Because it can definitively determine which sex chromosomes are in an embryo, PGD has an accuracy rate of over 99%, making it the most precise method for gender selection available today.

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis sex selection is the most reliable method, with almost 100 percent accuracy.

The Society for Reproductive Technology (SART) states that for women under 35, the percentage of live births via IVF is 55.6%. Live births per first embryo transfer is 41.4%. With a later embryo transfer, the live births percentage is around 47%.

There has been no proven risk of birth defects with any of the procedures involved with gender selection. In fact, due to the genetic embryo testing, the possibility of a birth defect is lower with IVF than with natural conception.

IVF and Gender Selection

This is an option with IVF. Intended parents consider gender selection for many reasons, the most prominent being that gender selection can help prevent genetic diseases. Since many disorders are sex-linked, choosing the gender can sometimes allow for a better chance of healthy embryos.

PGD testing success rates

Additionally, PGD testing was associated with a 95% chance of clinical pregnancy, a 95% chance of live-birth delivery, and a 95% chance of multiple-birth delivery among women over 37.

Cons of PGD or Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis

Chance of embryo destruction – About 20 percent of the time, an embryo can be damaged as a result of the biopsy process required for PGD. An embryo damaged by PGD biopsy will usually stop growing, not proceed to the next growth phase.

The sex identification of embryos is done using preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), which involves taking a few cells from an embryo as it develops in the lab, and determining the sex, boy or girl, of the embryos through genetic analysis.

Is gender selection allowed in USA? ›

Gender selection is legal in the United States

Gender selection is a bonus for many of our patients who already are using PGS to find the most viable embryos to transfer. All reasons to utilize gender selection, including non-medical ones, are valid to the parents who use it to build their families.

The researchers found that out of 672 cases, sex determination was possible 90 percent of the time, and the prediction was correct 87 percent of the time. While those percentages may seem pretty high, it's not as easy as it sounds.

IVF success rates depend on many factors, such as age and the reasons for infertility. Overall, first-time IVF success rates often fall between 25-30% for most intended parents. However, this probability tends to increase after multiple IVF cycles.

The national average for women younger than 35 able to become pregnant by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) on the first try (meaning, the first egg retrieval) is 55%. However, that number drops steadily as the woman ages.

“For most couples – and certainly those where the woman is younger than 40 and those of any age using donor eggs – two-thirds will achieve a live birth after five or six treatment cycles. This will take, on average, two years and is similar to rates that couples conceiving naturally take in one year.”

How long does the treatment take? The first step of the process (ovarian stimulations) usually begins on the second or third day of the menstrual period. The stimulation generally lasts for 11-14 days with the second stage, the egg retrieval, happening 2 days after the last shot of medicine.

Research has shown that if you wait for the embryo to reach the blastocyst stage before transfer, instead of performing the transfer at day 3, that sex ratio of the embryos is altered so that there are a higher percentage of male babies.

The long-term consequences of this masculinization could be dangerous, including the possibility of increased sexual violence and human trafficking. Tragically, these social ills perpetuate and reinforce the root cause of son preference: gender inequality.

Gender selection can prevent serious genetic diseases and chromosomal disorders that are gender-specific.

Can you pick twins with IVF? ›

Yes, a couple can ask for twins, but the clinic will counsel on the risks. The main risk with IVF is pre-term births. Pre-term births account for 60% of twin deliveries and bring a host of complications for the babies.

Infants born with traits selected following PGD are sometimes considered to be designer babies. One application of PGD is the selection of 'saviour siblings', children who are born to provide a transplant (of an organ or group of cells) to a sibling with a usually life-threatening disease.

It takes 12-16 weeks for the customized DNA test development. A newer technique in PGD is called karyomapping. It tests just a couple of weeks, not months, for test development and allows a universal test for PGD of almost any genetic mutation.

PGD is a method of screening eggs or embryos during the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process. Before an embryo is transferred to the uterus, a fertility specialist can check the cellular material for genetic defects. Down syndrome is one of the conditions that PGD can screen for.

Generally, obtaining 6 or more eggs would be best. On the other hand, if the woman is a low responder, there is little chance that IVF with PGD will be successful. There is also the option of making cycles of egg accumulation to obtain several embryos from several cycles and to be able to analyze them all together.

Objections to PGD include that to selectively transfer embryos is at odds with the moral status of the embryo, that IVF/PGD is too burdensome for women, and the 'slippery slope' argument.

The error rate for PGD in detecting an abnormal number of chromosomes is currently 10%. PGD cannot detect genetic mosaicism. That's when genetic abnormalities may be present in one cell of the embryo, not in another.

It is already known that there are metabolic differences between male and female embryos – male embryos develop faster than female embryos, for example. These differences are probably down to the action of proteins coded for by DNA on the sex chromosomes.

Alfarawati et al did a cytogenetic analysis of human blastocysts and found that the majority of developmentally advanced blastocysts were male (3:1 ratio of male to female) [2]. Dumoulin et al. found a clear sex related growth difference in a study on growth rate of human preimplantation surplus blastocysts [10].

Which country is best for gender selection? ›

For foreign couples, Iran is one of the best countries for undergoing gender selection, where other assisted fertility technologies such as egg donation, microarray genetic screening, etc. are legally practiced with the same quality as the western countries.

How much does ivf with gender selection cost? The average price of ivf with gender selection is $7250, the minimum price is $3750, and the maximum price is $11200.

IVF is a different way of conception from normal sexual intercourse. But the IVF children are as normal as other children concerning their mental and physical attributes.

The chances of an error with ultrasound are up to 5 percent, says Schaffir. An ultrasound can be between 95 to 99 percent accurate in determining sex, depending on when it's done, how skilled the sonographer is and whether baby is in a position that shows the area between their legs.

Sex determination of a baby happens during fertilization, and it can't change during your pregnancy. However, there's a slim chance that the provider could read the 20-week ultrasound incorrectly and tell you you're having a girl (or a boy) when the opposite is true.

The chances of an error with ultrasound are up to 5 percent, says Schaffir. An ultrasound can be between 95 to 99 percent accurate in determining sex, depending on when it's done, how skilled the sonographer is and whether baby is in a position that shows the area between their legs. Mistakes can also be made.

Most couples have to undergo that previously mentioned three IVF rounds or more. The process takes its toll on mental and emotional health, and infertility/fertility treatments also take their toll on relationships.

Studies examining the likelihood of pregnancy after multiple IVF attempts show varied results, with some suggesting that three rounds is the optimal number, given the emotional and financial strain that IVF can cause. Financial limitations aside, it actually may be worth continuing beyond three cycles.

There are several reasons why an IVF cycle may fail. The most common causes are abnormal sperm or embryos, infertility, and a uterus that is not receptive to the embryo.

How can I make my first IVF successful? ›

The first thing that should happen after a failed IVF attempt is for the IVF specialist physician to review the cycle carefully to possibly learn something from the results of the IVF ovarian stimulation process, or from any issues with egg retrieval, egg quality and/or quantity, fertilization results, embryo ...

IVF Success Rates Over 40

For women over 40, the IVF success rate is around 7%, with women under 42 having a higher rate of success than women over 42 years of age. In many cases, women over 40 may decide to use donor eggs.

So I could cut this blog short by saying that perhaps no, IVF possibly won't work the first time. That is only to say that, it's not guaranteed. But there is always nuance and circumstantial factors within any journey. Personally, I do know a few people where IVF has worked first time.

“When it comes to IVF, we have to understand that repetition is the key to success—so we really have to look at that cumulative number of 87.5% at the end of three embryo transfers,” Dr Divyashree elucidates. That said, there are many factors that contribute to how many IVF cycles you as a couple are eligible for.

Sex Selection Cost

The cost of sex selection varies from clinic to clinic. Typically, it may be $3,000 – $5,000 depending on whether microsorting or PGD sex selection is used. It is important to remember this cost will be in addition to the cost of any assisted reproductive fertility treatment procedure.

As to whether there's a guaranteed way to influence your chances have a boy — no, there isn't. Short of medically implanting an embryo that is known to be a boy, there are no guarantees when it comes to the sex of your baby.