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			Concern Treatment Pregnancy Experiences Treatment The Doctor's Visit Personalised Treatment Female Treatments Male Treatments Drug Therapy Assisted Reproduction ART at a Glance IVF ICSI Surgical Implications of Treatment Enhance Your Well-being Questions to Ask Your Doctor Treatment FAQ Contact Your Doctor		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.
			© 2003-2008 Merck Serono S.A. Please read our Legal Statement. US residents should consult the Serono, Inc. fertility website at www.fertilitylifelines.com Last updated: 14/05/2008