Women suffering from uterine fibroids or endometriosis; men who have low sperm counts or quality issues with their sperm; couples or individuals looking for genetically tested embryos; those who had surgery such as tubal ligation to avoid pregnancy – are all eligible.
At IVF, women take medicines to stimulate egg development before mixing it with sperm in a laboratory to facilitate fertilization. A few days later, doctors implant one or more fertilized embryos (embryos) into your uterus for fertilization to occur.
Fertilization
Fertilization refers to the joining of sperm and an egg to form fertilized eggs. Ovulation naturally initiates fertilization processes in your body; with IVF treatments, however, fertility drugs or surgical procedures may be employed to facilitate egg and sperm pairing up more easily and start the pregnancy process in your uterus. Fertilization plays an essential part in this journey toward pregnancy initiation.
An IVF cycle involves blocking a woman’s natural menstrual cycle and stimulating multiple follicles with FSH injections, stimulating multiple follicles until one reaches 18mm size, then targeting it with another hormone injection known as Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG) to simulate ovulation and release an egg, followed by retrieval via aspiration from her ovary under light sedation and ultrasound guidance for aspiration – after which it will be examined by experts to assess its quality and maturity before it can increase chances of fertilization further. In certain instances intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) may increase chances of successful fertilization further.
Surrogacy is another alternative form of IVF used to achieve pregnancy, known as surrogacy. Donor eggs may come from either known or anonymous sources depending on a woman’s preference; when trying for pregnancy due to primary ovarian insufficiency or declining ovarian reserve this method may be among the most successful ways.
Egg Retrieval
Woman going through IVF have the option of either donating or discarding any extra eggs after their fertilization process has completed, since the procedure itself can be expensive and fertilized eggs that fail to implant would significantly raise costs.
As an IVF nurse, I understand the egg retrieval procedure can be frightening for women. Though minor in scope and administered under general anesthesia in a clinic setting, you will usually wake up within minutes after its completion. While generally painless, there may be side effects from fertility medications taken daily to twice-daily injections that may include an increased chance of hyperstimulation syndrome in which too many follicles form too quickly, leading to enlarged ovaries, abdominal pain and bloating resulting in too rapid development of follicles leading to hyperstimulation syndrome resulting in overproduction of follicles leading to overdevelopment of follicles producing too many follicles at once leading to hyperstimulation syndrome resulting in overstimulation syndrome resulting in overstimultation syndrome as a side effects of taking fertility medication which could affect you personally;
To avoid hyperstimulation of your ovary, birth control pills or estrogen will be administered prior to starting IVF treatment. Once monitoring is complete with ultrasounds and blood tests monitoring your ovaries and hormone levels, the trigger shot is administered 36 hours before your scheduled egg retrieval procedure – using ultrasound detection of follicles and hollow needle retrieval, followed by mixing and freezing for future use.
Embryo Transfer
As part of IVF treatment, you take medications that cause your eggs to grow (fertilize). After that, doctors insert one or more fertilized eggs into your uterus; pregnancy occurs if one or more embryos implant into its lining and continue developing.
Doctors use one of two methods to fertilize an egg: conventional insemination or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Once fertilized, embryos may be frozen for later transfer – these cycles are known as frozen embryo transfer cycles (FET).
After retrieval, your doctor will check the quality of your eggs and arrange a date and time for transfer – typically 1-6 days post retrieval for fresh embryo transfers; preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) involves biopsying some embryos on culture day 5 or 6, and only transferring those that pass preimplantation genetic testing (PGT).
Before your transfer, your doctor may employ assisted hatching, which involves creating a hole in your embryo’s outer shell to increase its chances of successfully hatching and attaching itself to your uterus lining. You will also take pills or receive shots of progesterone daily to prepare your uterus for an embryo, helping reduce your risk of multiple pregnancy; having multiple pregnancies increases risks such as miscarriage and premature birth.
Pregnancy
IVF (in vitro fertilization) is a complex series of procedures used to help your body achieve pregnancy. IVF uses medicine and surgery combined to stimulate ovaries into producing multiple eggs that can then be fertilized in the lab before being implanted into your uterus as embryos. IVF may be necessary when other fertility treatments such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) fail, or for people seeking to prevent genetic conditions being passed along during natural conception.
At IVF, you will take medication that matures multiple eggs for fertilization and also helps prepare the uterus lining for embryo transfer. In addition to regular ultrasounds and blood tests, regular ultrasounds and blood tests will monitor hormone levels as part of this phase of the cycle.
Once your eggs have been fertilized in a laboratory, doctors will perform a minor procedure known as embryo transfer to place one or more embryos into your uterus. You will take progesterone pills or shots daily in order to help the embryos attach and grow inside of you uterus. Your doctor may use assisted hatching — creating an opening in an embryo’s outer shell prior to transfer so it “hatches” more easily — which increases its chances of implanting successfully into your uterus.
