IVF The Procedure
Fertility treatment: In vitro fertilisation (IVF)
You'll take fertility drugs to stimulate your ovaries to develop several mature eggs for fertilisation. There has been a concern that any treatments which use drugs to stimulate the ovaries may lead to an increased risk of ovarian cancer in later life.
Normally you would release only one egg a month. You can choose not to take these drugs but to increase your odds of getting pregnant and better the chance of additional eggs it's advised.
A variety of drugs are used and your doctor will decide which combination will suit you best. You will be closely monitored while you are on these drugs as different women respond to them in different ways and some have strong side effects.
Your doctor will monitor your blood hormone levels, they then can detect when your eggs are mature; an ultrasound will confirm that the eggs are ready to be retrieved. Once confirmed, you'll be given a sedation anaesthetic and your doctor will remove the eggs using a fine, hollow needle. (Another ultrasound helps your doctor locate the eggs.) Your partner's sperm sample is then introduced to your eggs in a dish containing a nutrient medium, which is then cultured in an incubator.
Two days later, any fertilised eggs will each have become a ball of cells called an embryo (the start of life). Usually, two or three embryos are transferred into your uterus through your cervix with a thin catheter. (To avoid the risk of a multiple pregnancy, no more than three embryos can legally be transferred. Extra embryos, if there are any, may be frozen for future use in case this cycle doesn't succeed.)
In a successful cycle, one or more embryos will implant in your uterine wall and continue to grow. You'll be able to take a pregnancy test in about two weeks.
Almost half of all IVF babies come from a multiple birth. Recent data shows that the chances of success are not much greater if three rather than just two embryos are transferred, but that the risk of a multiple pregnancy increases significantly if three are transferred.
>Reasons for decline in fertility
Possible Risks or Birth Defects
Cancer
FSH (Puregon or Gonal F)
Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)
Synarel
Seeking Treatment
Preliminary routine investigations
Where is the best place to go for ivf treatment abroad?
In vitro success overseas?
