IVF stands for In Vitro Fertilization. It is one of the widely known types of assisted reproductive technology (ART). It is one of the most effective and widely known fertility treatments in the world which works by using a combination of medicines and surgical procedures to help sperm fertilized an egg outside a women’s body in a specialized lab and then the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus of the female. IVF is an expensive and complicated procedure and it involves many steps and the whole process takes several months to complete.
Sometimes it works on the first try but many people need more than one round of IVF to get pregnant. It surely increases the chances of pregnancy but there is no guarantee as everyone’s body is different and IVF won’t work for everyone. The procedure of IVF involves several steps and medical tests such as evaluation of the uterus and fallopian tubes, pre-cycle testing, thyroid function, screening of both partners for sexually transmitted function etc.
Four major steps involved in the treatment include:-
Ovulation Induction:- Before or during the IVF process the doctor will monitor the ovaries and the timing of egg release. The doctor will make sure that during the process your hormone levels remain normal and multiple eggs must be produced rather than the single egg that normally develops each month. Multiple eggs are needed because some eggs won’t fertilize or develop normally after fertilization. Most of the women take fertility medicines to stimulate the ovaries to produce one or more eggs. Having several eggs available for IVF will increase the chances of pregnancy. If you cannot produce egg then talk to tour doctor about donor eggs for the IVF process.
Egg Retrieval:-Thirty-four to thirty-six hours after receiving the trigger shot before the eggs ovulate you will have a surgical procedure. During this step, pain medication is given to avoid any discomfort. For this egg retrieval procedure, an ultrasound is needed to visually guide a small needle which is to be passed through the top of the Vagina into one Ovary and then the other. The fluid is removed from the follicles under the gentle suction and then the oocyte (egg) is isolated from the follicular fluid. The egg is placed in a culture dish containing nutrient media and then transferred to the incubator.
Fertilization:-The next step is fertilization of the egg. A sperm sample is secured and the most active sperm is mixed with egg in a special chamber. There are two ways to fertilize an egg: the conventional insemination or the intra-cytoplasmic injection (ICSI). Which process is the most suitable for you will be determined by the IVF team and the decision depends on multiple factors related to the whole process of IVF treatment. In the conventional method, sperm is placed in the culture medium containing an egg, and then sperm and egg are incubated together in the dish in the lab allowing the sperm to enter the egg on its own. In the ICSI method, one sperm is injected into the cytoplasm of the egg using a needle and a sophisticated operative microscope. No matter which process you used, fertilization is checked on the next morning.
Embryo Transfer:- The last step is the embryo transfer. For this first, the embryos are examined to select the healthiest one. To transfer the embryo, a speculum is placed into the vagina and then the embryo is transferred via a small plastic tube placed through the cervix into the uterine cavity. After the whole process, bed rest is often advised for around 24 hours.