4.5.3.6 The Use of Hormones to Treat Infertility (HT only)

Question 1

Use of hormones in modern reproductive technologies to treat infertility:

Answer 1

• giving FSH and LH in a ‘fertility drug’ to a woman
• she may then become pregnant in a normal way

Question 2

What does IVF treatment involve?

Answer 2

• IVF involves giving a mother FSH and LH to stimulate the maturation of several eggs
• The eggs are collected from the mother and fertilised by sperm from the father in the laboratory
• The fertilised eggs develop into embryos
• At the stage where they are tiny balls of cells, one or two embryos are inserted into the mother’s uterus (womb)

Question 3

Which hormones are involved in IVF and what is their role and what is the impact of using hormones this way?

Answer 3

• IVF involves giving a mother FSH and LH to stimulate the maturation and release of several eggs more than normal in a woman’s ovaries
• LH - makes sure eggs are released

Question 4

Why might women need IVF?

Answer 4

• ovulatory disorders - one of the most common reasons women can’t get pregnant
• lacking hormones

Question 5

Differences between normal fertilisation and IVF:

Answer 5

• Normal fertilisation:
  • fertilisation takes place in woman’s body (fallopian tube)
  • FSH and LH normally produced → egg
  • eggs are not extracted from female
  • eggs naturally implanted
  IVF:
  • fertilisation takes place in a lab outside of the body
  • FSH and LH provided in excess → results in more eggs maturing
  • eggs extracted from woman
  • easier to analyse for family genes
  • manual collection of sperm
  • expensive
  • more hospital visits

Question 6

Advantages of IVF:

Answer 6

• infertile woman can have children
• single women can have children without partner
• same-sex couples can have children
• easier to analyse for family genes
• don’t need to rely on a surrogate

Question 7

Disadvantages of IVF:

Answer 7

• very emotionally and physically stressful
• success rates are not high
• it can lead to multiple births which are a risk to both the babies and the mother
• IVF not natural - replacing physical and emotional importance by conceiving with a lab technique
• embryo’s not transplanted are eventually destroyed
  
  • ethical issues → “waste of life”
• time-consuming
• expensive

Question 8

Disadvantages of fertility treatment (despite it giving a woman a chance to have a baby of her own):

Answer 8

• very emotionally and physically stressful
• success rates are not high
• it can lead to multiple births which are a risk to both the babies and the mother