February 24, 2017.
On February 24, 1982, exactly 35 years ago, Amandine, the first French test tube baby, was born at the Antoine-Béclère hospital in Clamart. Where are we today with fertilization in vitro (IVF)? We take stock.
More than 20,000 IVF each year
In 1982, four years after the birth of Louise Brown, the world’s first test-tube baby, was born little Amandine who is celebrating her 35th birthday today. The birth of this first French baby, conceived in vitro, had, at the time, provoked lively controversy. But today IVF is very widespread. In 2008, in fact, 200,000 children had already been conceived by fertilization. in vitro.
This medically assisted procreation is only accessible to heterosexual couples in whom infertility has been recognized by a health professional. Single women or female couples cannot resort to fertilization in vitro. We consider a couple as infertile when they fail to have a child after 12 to 24 months of trying, without contraception.
An obstacle course for some couples
IVF is a wonderful solution for many couples, but for others it is a bit of an obstacle course. It should be noted that this experience can be very long and painful. Couples who use IVF have a 1 in 2 chance of having a child. After four attempts, the Health Insurance no longer reimburses IVF. Failures can therefore be very painful for the couple.
You should know that the younger the woman, the greater her chances of getting pregnant through in vitro fertilization. After 43, a woman will no longer have access to IVF. It should also be noted that IVF exposes the risk of multiple pregnancies since it is permitted through ovarian stimulation. According to French statistics, around 20% of pregnancies obtained by IVF are twins and less than 1% are triple or quadruple.
Read also: IVF: a test to estimate your chances of success
Marine Rondot