IVF Treatment – How does IVF Process work?

If you are about to go through IVF process (In Vitro Fertilization Treatment), you may feel excited and at the same time worried about the possible outcome. IVF process is normally recommended if other fertility treatments did not work for you.

However, in situations stipulated below, IVF is may be given as the first fertility treatment. If:

There is a need for an egg donor to be used;

The couple seeking a child requires surrogate mother;

There is a serious cases of male infertility;

If the fallopian tubes of the woman are blocked.

Even in the above situations, IVF process is only recommended after many years of failed pregnancy with a lot of fertility tests.

The following are the processes involved in IVF Fertility treatment 

The initial process: Induction of Ovulation 

Before starting off your In Vitro Fertilization Treatment, your fertility specialist will examine your ovaries and monitor it to target the time your ovaries will release egg. The birth specialist would check that you are producing eggs. He would also monitor the eggs as they develop and only retrieve the eggs once they have reached adequate maturity stage. Your hormone levels would also be checked to make sure that they are perfectly okay.

As an alternative to the natural ovulation, you could be given fertility drug to stimulate the production of eggs by the ovary. Making use of many eggs for the IVF process increases your likelihood of becoming pregnant. If you cannot produce eggs, donor eggs may be recommended for the procedure.

The second Process: The matured eggs are retrieved from your ovary

Before the eggs are retrieved, you’d be placed on pain relief medications to minimize any discomfort you may have. After that, a very slender hollow needle is projected into your upper vaginal wall  A vaginal ultrasound is used to direct the needle while removing the fluid that contains your matured oocytes through mild suction.

Just after the follicle has aspired, the egg is isolated from the fluid in the follicle and placed in a petri dish with nutrient media and afterwards transferred to the incubator.

The third In Vitro Fertilization process: Fertilization 

The third process of IVF involves the fertilization of the extracted egg. The man is asked to produce a sperm sample. Alternatively, a donor sperm sample is used. The sperm sample is examined and a very motile sperm is combined with the egg in a unique lab compartment. Occasionally, the sperm is injected straight onto the egg and the mixture is put inside an incubator. While in the incubator, the egg and sperm mixture is monitored to ensure the development of a healthy embryo.

The fourth IVF process: Transfer of the embryo into the womb and subsequent Implantation

The last process carried out is the transfer of the embryo into the womb. The fertilized embryos are monitored and the healthiest one is transferred into your uterus. During the embryo transfer, a speculum is directed into your vagina and the embryo is passed through a minor plastic suction tube that passes through your cervix into your uterus. After the procedure, you would normally be asked to take bed rest for about for around 24 hours.

Testing for pregnancy

After nine days to twelve days of going through the IVF process, you’d be recommended to go for pregnancy test. Many women conceive after the IVF process but some other women don’t. Some women go through two to three cycles before they become pregnant. As soon as you get pregnant, the feelings are same like the normal naturally occurring pregnancy.

During IVF, some women have miscarriage. The percentage of miscarriage increases with the age of the woman.

If you are already pregnant, your doctor would examine you to check if you have a multiple pregnancy. If the numbers of fetuses you are carrying are up to four, your doctor may recommend reducing the number of fetuses through a process known as multifetal pregnancy reduction. The main reason for this is to increase your chance of having a healthy baby and risk free pregnancy.

If pregnancy test returns a negative result 

If after two weeks of implantation, your result still reads negative, your doctor will ask you to stop ingesting progesterone medication and wait for your next menstrual period.

The next thing to do depends on you, your partner, and your doctor. The doctor may recommend another cycle if the first one proved abortive.

Having a failed treatment cycle is not easy to bear at all. It's very painful if the treatment is not successful. The pain comes both as emotional tortures of not conceiving a child and the wastage of a huge sum of money. Whatever is the case, remember that if the first treatment is not successful; you may succeed with the second treatment.