8 IVF Claims That Are Not True

28 de octubre de 2025

3 min de lectura

For some couples, IVF (in vitro fertilization) is the only chance to have a baby. Although IVF has long been a common medical practice, there are many misconceptions about this procedure. Which claims are not true?

Puntos clave

For some couples, IVF (in vitro fertilization) is the only chance to have a baby.
1. IVF allows you to give birth to a baby at any age
2. IVF is the guarantor of pregnancy

Para quién es

Personas que exploran Embarazo a través de IVF, infertilidad.

Por qué importa

Este artículo te ayuda a orientarte rápidamente y luego avanzar a una colección o serie si quieres seguir profundizando.

Autor del artículo

Dra. Natalie

Ginecóloga-obstetra, ecografista

1. IVF allows you to give birth to a baby at any age

This is partially correct and partially incorrect. If we are talking about the birth of a child with the help of your own egg, even the IVF procedure will not help turn back time. The chances of pregnancy decrease after 35, and at the age of 40, there are high risks of chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo. 45–46 years is the age limit for conception with the help of your own egg (unless you have frozen some eggs previously). But with the help of a donor egg, you can carry out the procedure at any age, as long as you are healthy.

2. IVF is the guarantor of pregnancy

This is not true. Even a thorough examination and well-thought-out treatment program do not guarantee a successful result. At a certain stage, the rejection of a fertilized egg is possible — and anything can be the cause: non-compliance with the doctor's recommendations, hard work, stress, little rest, or hypovitaminosis.

3. Stimulation by hormones is bad for a woman's body

This is also a twofold statement. To prepare the egg for fertilization, a woman must take hormonal drugs, and this scares many who want to undergo the IVF procedure. If the patient has undergone a thorough examination, and the eggs were collected during her natural cycle, then there are no risks for the woman's body.

However, if such a possibility is excluded, the patient is exposed to hyperstimulation, including estrogen, which negatively affects the woman's health.

4. When unsuccessful, the entire process must be repeated

The whole IVF process consists of examination, stimulating therapy, laparoscopy with the collection of an egg, fertilization, and implantation into the uterine cavity. There are times when the attempt succeeds the first time. But if it does not work, there is no need to start all over again—once embryos are implanted, the rest can be frozen and left for subsequent attempts.

5. Children born via IVF have development issues

Children conceived with IVF are no different from children born naturally. After replanting a fertilized egg into the uterine cavity, the development of the embryo occurs just like other kids.

6. After IVF, there’s a higher chance of having twins or triplets

For a greater likelihood of conception, patients are usually implanted with several embryos. If they all take root (and this depends on many factors), then the pregnancy may result in multiple children.

7. IVF allows you to choose the gender of the baby

Although this is technically possible, it is prohibited in many countries. For example, in the USA, Mexico, and Thailand, it is permissible to choose the gender for a baby if the family already has at least one child of the opposite sex. It is impossible to carry out gender diagnostics without medical indications. An exception can only be made for parents who have a history of gender-related genetic abnormalities, such as hemophilia in boys.

8. IVF provokes cancer

There is an opinion that the IVF procedure can cause the development of malignant tumors. The reason for this long-standing misconception is that the ovaries are stimulated by hormones during extracorporeal fertilization. In the past, stimulation drugs were based on the hormone cortisol produced by the adrenal cortex.

And these medicines came with unpleasant side effects including weight gain, increased blood pressure, stretch marks on the skin—and they even provoked cancer. Today, a different set of drugs are used to stimulate the growth of follicles, identical to the natural hormones synthesized by the pituitary gland.

However, there is still some risk that is not associated with the IVF procedure, but rather with the pregnancy itself. Hormonal activity during this period can negatively affect the borderline neoplasms already present in the body. That is why, when preparing for an IVF procedure or planning a natural pregnancy, it is necessary to be carefully examined.

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