For couples whose infertility persists despite getting administered with the conventional first-line treatments, the In Vitro Fertilization or IVF is the next step. IVF happens to be the most effective treatment that is available today. Although it is a very common treatment form, it is particularly helpful for women of advanced age or women with damaged Fallopian Tubes.
IVF is a treatment that introduces the female egg and male sperm in a specialized culture medium, thus enhancing the chances of successful fertilization. The embryos are observed and grown in a laboratory and then are reintroduced to the recipient’s uterus at a multicell embryo stage or blastocyst embryo stage. Effectively, an IVF cycle consists of steps such as Ovarian Stimulation, Egg Retrieval, Insemination & Fertilization, Embryo Transfer, Freezing of Embryos, and then Pregnancy.
When we talk of various fertility treatments, In Vitro Fertilization, commonly called IVF is right up there. This treatment has been around for decades in which the basic idea is to unite the egg with the sperm outside the body, in a culture. IVF is commonly used in treating
-Women who have crossed a certain age
-Women having damaged or blocked Fallopian Tubes
-Women with endometriosis or
-Issues with male fertility caused due to low sperm count
Let’s look into the various steps that are involved in IVF Treatment.
This is the first step where fertility drugs are given to boost egg production. The more eggs are produced, the more is the chance of successful fertilization later in the treatment cycle. The patient usually goes through ultrasounds and blood tests on a regular basis to check ovaries and monitor the hormone levels under this initial step.
Hormone injections are given in order to help the eggs mature more quickly than usual in the second step. A minor surgical procedure is then done to retrieve the eggs. During this procedure, a device is attached to the needle to suck out the eggs, one at a time. Proper medication is given so that no discomfort is felt to the patient.
While the eggs get removed, the partner or the donor provides a sperm sample. The sperm is then put through a high-speed wash and spin cycle to find the healthiest ones.
Combining the best sperm with the best eggs is the next big step. This process is also termed as Insemination. It mostly takes a few hours for a sperm to fertilize the egg. It may also happen that the doctor directly injects the sperm inside the egg through a process called Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection- ICSI.
Once the eggs are collected the next step is to prep the lining of the uterus to receive the embryos. 3-5 days after the fertilization, the embryos are placed in the uterus using a catheter. Under this process, multiple embryos are transferred in a hope that at least one will implant itself in the lining of the uterus and begin to develop.
The IVF process replicates natural reproduction and if conducted with the best practices can result in Pregnancy.
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