IVF Treatment Procedure

IVF - In Vitro Fertilization Procedures Step by Step

The IVF process involves:

• Stimulating multiple follicles and eggs to develop
• Egg retrieval to get the eggs.
• Fertilizing the eggs in the laboratory
•  Embryo transfer to the uterus

Louise Brown was the first IVF baby in the world. She was born in July of 1978 in England. Louise was 28 (in 2006) when she had her own baby (without IVF). Hundreds of thousands of children are now born every year as a result of IVF.

The process of in vitro fertilization - how is IVF done?

IVF involves several steps. One cycle of IVF takes around 4 - 6 weeks to complete, and can take about two weeks to do as it involves inducing ovulation, retrieving the egg and sperm, fertilization, and then transferring the embryo into your womb.

Step:1 - Preparation

Once you have decided to proceed with IVF, we prepare you for the process by first evaluating you to ensure that you are healthy and free from any infection. We also study your uterine cavity via an ultrasound.

Step:2 - Ovulation induction

 If you’re using your own eggs, your IVF treatment will begin with medications to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs rather than the single egg that develops every month. This is because every fertilized egg ultimately results in a baby, and so a surplus of oocytes increases your overall chance of success.

During this step, we also visualize your ovarian follicles through an ultrasound and do a hormonal assay to check on your hormone levels.

Step:3 - Egg retrieval

Egg retrieval is a minimally invasive outpatient surgical procedure that is done 34 to 36 hours after your final dose of stimulation medication and before ovulation. With an ultrasound to guide, a thin needle is inserted to aspirate fluid from the mature ovarian follicles. This fluid is passed to the embryologist who examines it for the presence of an egg.

The eggs are removed from the follicles and the mature eggs are placed in a nutritive liquid and incubated.

Step:4 - Sperm Retrieval

 If you are using your partner’s sperm, he will also provide semen on the same day that your eggs are retrieved. Sperm can also be extracted through testicular aspiration. The sperm are separated from the semen in the lab.

Step:5 - Fertilization and Early Development

Fertilization is done on the same day as retrieval of the egg and sperm, and is accomplished in one of two ways:

Conventional insemination, where healthy sperm and mature eggs are mixed and incubated overnight.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where a single healthy sperm is injected directly into each mature egg.

On the morning after the retrieval, your eggs will be evaluated for fertilization. These single cells are now referred to as zygotes. By the second day after retrieval the cells is now called a pre-embryo and consists of 2 to 4 cells.

Step:6 - Luteal Phase Support

To prepare your uterus for embryo implantation, you will be started on progesterone medication on the day of or after egg retrieval. You will be asked to continue the course on a daily basis until the pregnancy is well into the first trimester.

Step:7 - Embryo Transfer

To prepare your uterus for embryo implantation, you will be started on progesterone medication on the day of or after egg retrieval. You will be asked to continue the course on a daily basis until the pregnancy is well into the first trimester.

Early Pregnancy Surveillance

We test for pregnancy 14 - 15 days after the embryo transfer. HCG levels are monitored frequently during the first two weeks of pregnancy, after which we continue to monitor your baby’s development using ultrasound. By the 6th week of pregnancy, you can see your baby’s heartbeat.