Assisted Reproductive Therapy Flashcards
Name 2 types of ART
IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) treatment
clomifene therapy
How do fertility drugs / clomifene therapy work?
contain / cause an increase in FSH and LH
the drugs can help women who produce too little FSH by stimulating eggs to mature and be released
What is fertility?
the ability to have children
- contraceptives reduce fertility
- fertility drugs increase it
How does IVF work?
-fertilisation outside a womens body
1) fertility drug (FSH) given to women to stimulate multiple eggs to mature at once
women also take oestrogen and progesterone to thicken the lining of the uterus so an egg can be implanted
2) mature eggs are removed from the ovaries once they have left the follicles, but before they reach the fallopian tube
the women is given a dose of LH to achieve this
3) the eggs are mixed with sperm in a dish for fertilisation, or injected with a sperm cell
4) the fertilised eggs develop into embryos
5) when the embryos are a small ball of cells, >8, one or two are placed in the mother’s womb to develop
a) Follice stimulating hormone is used to stimulate ovulation in a women undergoing IVF treatment, even if she ovulates naturally. Explain why.
b) Use this data to suggest the advantage of using FSH in IVF treatment:
proportion of IVF treatments carried out in the UK in 2008 that resulted in a baby for mothers of different ages
<35: 33.1%
35-37: 27.2%
38-39: 19.3%
>40: 10.7%
a) this is to stimulate the maturation of many eggs
normally only one egg would mature in a normal cycle
b) the data shows that IVF treatment is not always successful, especially as women get older.
stimulating more eggs to mature means more embryos can be produced.
this means that there are enough eggs to undergo several cycles of IVF if necessary
Describe how IVF can make it possible for a couple to have a baby when the women does not normally release mature eggs from her ovaries.
the women is given fertility drugs that contain FSH, which makes eggs mature in her ovaries
the drugs also contain LH, which stimulates mature eggs to be released
the released eggs are collected and fertilied with sperm outside her body
when the embryos have developed into tiny balls of cells, one or two are placed in the woman’s womb to develop until birth
Explain how clomifene can be used to treat fertility problems.
clomifene stimulates FSH and LH
FSH causes follicles to mature
LH stimulates ovulation
Why do some women have difficulty becoming pregnant?
they don’t produce enough FSH to allow their eggs to mature
IVF also increases chances of twins or triplets
