The mother who gave birth to octuplets identified a Beverly Hills fertility clinic that she said provided in-vitro fertilization for all 14 of her children. (Feb. 9)

Infertility is defined as a male’s or female’s inability or reduced biological ability to contribute to the conception of a child.  More commonly, it is defined as the inability to become pregnant after 12 months of intercourse without birth control.  Infertility may also refer to a woman’s inability to carry a pregnancy to full term.

Infertility affects about 1 in every of couples in their reproductive age.  In the US, approx. 7% of married couples in which the woman was of reproductive age (2.1 million) reported they were not able to get pregnant after trying for one year (2002 National Survey of Family Growth).

In some cases, both the man and woman may be sub-fertile.  In other cases, each partner is each fertile but the couple cannot conceive together without assistance.  In approx. 1/3rd of the cases, the male is infertile, in 1/3rd the female is infertile, and in 1/3rd, it can be either one of them, or the cause is unknown.  In about 15% of cases, investigation will show no abnormalities which can be detected by current methods.

Egg quality is also of critical importance, especially for women of advanced maternal age.  Or it may be a question of the egg not being released at the optimum time for fertilization, or the sperm not being able to reach the egg, or fertilization may fail to occur.

If you are trying to get pregnant, and are considering a fertility treatment, don’t opt immediately for the most advanced and expensive Fertility Treatments, such as IVF, thinking you’ll get pregnant faster.

You have a number of Fertility Treatments available, which include:  fertility drugs, surgery, IVF, GIFT, ZIFT, donor eggs, and surrogacy.  In 85% to 95% of cases, Infertility can be treated with conventional Fertility Treatments, such as drug treatment.  These solutions are more affordable and less invasive than some of the other options.

Here’s an overview of your Fertility Treatment options, ranked from the least to the most invasive:

Fertility drugs:  These drugs can help get a female’s or males reproductive system and hormones in balance.

Artificial Insemination:  Sometimes the male’s sperm needs help getting to the female’s egg.  Placing a dose of sperm in your uterus at the proper time will improve one’s chances of getting pregnant.

Surgery:  Some women have blocked fallopian tubes, endometriosis, fibroids, or ovarian cysts, or genetic defects.  A minor surgery, performed with a laparoscope (a fiber-thin tube) can help diagnose the problem.  However, more extensive surgery may be required.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART):  ART can involve the hi-tech In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), or in rarer cases, GIFT or ZIFT.  In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of ART have failed.  It involves surgically removing eggs (ova) from a woman’s ovaries, fertilizing them with sperm in the laboratory, and returning them to the woman’s body.  Both Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer and Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer are ART procedures, which involve removing the woman’s eggs, mixing them with the male’s sperm , and implanting them in the woman’s Fallopian tubes.  With ZIFT, fertilization takes place outside the body, and with GIFT, fertilization takes place inside the body.  Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is a procedure in which a single sperm (especially donor sperm) is injected directly into an egg.

Egg Donation:  Occasionally, a woman may require to use a egg donor, depending on her age, and egg quality.

A couple is considered infertile when they have been unable to conceive a child after a year.   When conservative treatments fail, physicians often recommend fertilizing the woman’s eggs outside the womb, a process known as in vitro fertilization (“IVF”).

IVF involves artificially stimulating egg production in a woman by use of fertility drugs.  The resulting eggs are then surgically removed from the woman’s ovaries, and combined with sperm in a laboratory.  The strongest, healthiest embryos are then re-inserted in the woman.

This procedure overcomes numerous blocks to fertility, but it comes at a steep price.  IVF can cost over $10,000 per cycle and is usually not covered by insurance.   Therefore, before a couple considers this expensive procedure, it is important that they discuss IVF success rates with their fertility expert.

IVF success rates vary based on the physical characteristics of the couple undergoing the procedure, and the treatment methods used by the physician.

Age is the most important predictor of IVF success rates because the quantity and quality of eggs produced reduces as the woman ages.  On the average, live births per cycle are approximately 30% for women under age 35, 25% up to age 38, 15-20% up until age 40, and under 10% over age 40.   The average implantation rate is 20%.

Other factors in IVF success rates are the condition of the woman’s uterus, the quality of her partner’s semen, the ability of the woman to tolerate the procedure itself, the number of embryos which can be transferred, and whether the woman has a luteal phase defect affecting implantation.

Although such factors make it difficult to compare clinics, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention publishes clinics' success rates on its website.   However, this information can be misleading.  Some clinics improve their success rate by refusing to accept older women into their programs.  Others implant multiple embryos to boost their statistics.

Each couple is unique, and, notwithstanding national averages, IVF success rates cannot be predicted by a chart.  It is important to discuss the likelihood of success with a trusted doctor.