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 Concern
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Pregnancy
Experiences
Treatment
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In Vitro Fertilization
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) was the first ART
procedure and is still the most commonly used.
During an IVF cycle, eggs and sperm are collected and placed
together in a laboratory dish to fertilize. Hormonal medications
are usually used to help stimulate development of as many eggs as
possible. If the eggs are successfully fertilized in the lab, they
are transferred into the woman's uterus. Ideally, one of the
fertilized eggs will implant and develop, just as in a routine
pregnancy.
IVF is a four-stage process:
Stage 1: Ovarian stimulation, monitoring,
and ovulation triggering
Having a greater number of mature eggs available for fertilization
increases the chances for achieving pregnancy. Since a woman's body
normally releases only one mature egg every month, hormonal
medications are used to stimulate the ovaries to develop more
ovarian follicles. Follicles are fluid-filled sacs in which eggs
mature. The medications also control the timing of ovulation to
make it easier to retrieve the eggs.
Monitoring Ovarian Stimulation:
Your doctor may use ultrasound to obtain images of your ovaries and
monitor the number and size of maturing follicles. Since developing
follicles secrete increasing amounts of oestrogen, blood tests are
used to monitor hormone levels, which help determine the best time
to administer medication and time egg retrieval.
Stage 2: Egg Retrieval
Once ovarian stimulation is complete and follicles have matured,
your doctor will try to retrieve as many eggs as possible, although
all the eggs may not be used in the current IVF cycle.
Egg retrieval is performed under local anaesthesia. The mature
follicles are identified using ultrasound, and then a needle is
passed through the vagina to withdraw the fluid from the mature
follicle with gentle suction. The fluid is immediately examined
under a microscope to see if an egg has been retrieved. The process
is repeated for each mature follicle in both ovaries. All retrieved
eggs are removed from the follicular fluid and placed in an
incubator.
Vaginal progesterone treatment may be started the evening after
retrieval to help prepare the uterine lining to receive a
fertilized egg.
Stage 3: Fertilization
About two hours before the eggs are retrieved, a semen sample is
collected from the male partner and processed to select the
strongest, most active sperm. The sperm are then placed with the
eggs in an incubator set to the same temperature as a woman's body.
The next day, the eggs are examined under a microscope to determine
whether fertilization has occurred. If it has, the resulting
embryos will be ready to transfer to the uterus in about 72
hours.
Stage 4: Embryo Transfer
Embryo transfer is not a complicated procedure and can be performed
without anaesthesia. The embryos are placed in a tube and
transferred to the uterus. The number of embryos transferred
depends on a woman's age, cause of infertility, pregnancy history,
and other factors. If there are additional embryos that are of
exceptional quality, they may meet the guidelines for freezing
(cryopreservation) for later use.
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