With the success of freezing embryos, fertility clinics face the dilemma of not knowing what to do with them when couples abandon unused embryos, forget about them or simply decide they have completed their family. Some clinics now ask couples to decide the fate of the unused embryos before embarking on infertility treatments. The big business of baby making When Louise Brown was born, many doctors thought the success rates would be too low to make the procedure practical. At some large centers, success rates are as high as 40 percent in women under age 40. In fact, in-vitro fertilization as now practiced is a victim of its own success.
Infertility treatment is a competitive business.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women who get pregnant through infertility treatments have a 37 percent chance of a multiple birth, compared to 2 percent in the general population. Clearly, for couples who have struggled to become pregnant at great expense, this is a grueling decision. Doctors in the field say multiple births are not how they define success. With all the hype and headlines that surround reproductive technology, many couples assume they will succeed at getting pregnant. But while pregnancy rates are rising, statistics show infertility treatments fail for most couples.