Author(s): DEMARCO,STACEY

Stationery

This book focuses on IVF treatment, its effects on families and relationships, and how to minimise the stress it causes. It is a groundbreaking work - no other book deals with the emotional experiences involved in IVF treatment and bringing up an IVF child. IVF clinics are overflowing with new patients and have little room for the 'personal touch'; 80 million couples world-wide experience infertility. This book is for couples thinking about IVF treatment, those undergoing treatment, and IVF parents who are experiencing emotional 'lows' without knowing why; It is also an invaluable guide for health professionals working with IVF families. IVF births make up a highly significant part of the fertility rate. The current overall success rate of IVF is approaching 25 per cent - twice what it was twenty years ago. Experts predict that we will approach a figure of 30 IVF births per 100 births by around 2030. IVF mothers are three times more likely to attend early parenting centres for help. IVF clinicians are now emphasising to parents that stress plays a sizeable role in treatment success.
Research has shown that women undergoing treatment for infertility have a similar level of stress as women dealing with life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer or heart disease. This book discusses the latest international research, bringing together the most up-to-date information for parents. It moves beyond the 'here and now' to look at issues families and practitioners rarely consider, such as telling a child about IVF conception, what to do with spare frozen embryos, and the implications of legislation to make surrogacy easier. This is also an essential read for any health professional involved with IVF, who rarely see how families cope away from the clinic, and it will be invaluable for GPs, who are seeing more and more patients who have been affected by IVF.