IVF Process
Let’s now understand the stepwise approach to an
IVF treatment:
Fertility Drugs
- One egg is produced per month in a normal menstrual cycle
- Fertility Drugs will make the ovaries produce a high number of matured eggs
- GnRH (gonadotrophin releasing hormone)agonist/antagonist will help prevent ovulation
- Duration: 10-14 days
Injecting Hormones
- Duration: 12 days (One injection/day)
- Ovulation Induction – High no. of matured eggs
- Hormones injected: FSH (gonadotrophin follicle stimulating hormone); LH (luteinising hormone)
- Monitoring of possible side-effects
- Result: Matured eggs
Retrieval of Eggs & Sperm Collection
- Eggs retrieval
- Pain killers to be taken post removal
- Best quality Fresh/Frozen sperms are collected
- Combination of eggs & sperms placed in a dish to allow fertilization in an incubator
Fertilization & Transfer of Embryo
- Check on fertilization of eggs
- Fertilized eggs are kept in a dish for 2-3 days
- Embryo formation from fertilized eggs
- Embryos with good grade and morphology are selected for transfer into the uterus
- In parallel Progesterone is injected into the uterus to make it embryo ready
- Multiple embryos (not more than 3) are inserted into the uterus
Repeated Cycles
- Extra embryos can be frozen for future use
- These can be used if one wishes another baby after successful treatment
- One or more embryos will get implanted in walls of the uterus and start growing
- A pregnancy test can be taken in about 2 weeks to check for confirmation
Who will benefit from an IVF?
- Women who have fallopian tubes wither damaged or broken
- If the male counterpart has issues with sperm
- Women on whom fertility drugs have not been successful
- Women who are not able to conceive even after trying for 2 years or more, or are aged more than 38 years
Duration of treatment?
On an average, one IVF cycle would be for about 3 to 4 weeks. Retrieval of eggs will further take about 5-6 hours of hospital daycare admission. Since embryos develop in about 2-5 days, post that again a visit to the clinic will be made for the transfer of these embryos into the uterus with a hospital stay of around 3-4 hours.
Since age plays a vital role in the health of eggs, it’s more likely that young women will find IVF more successful.
- Women with age less than 35 years: 40% or more
- Women with age between 39-41 years: 18% to 22%
- Women with age between 44-45 years: 5%
- Women with age more than 45 years: 2% or less
A second time (or succeeding) pregnancy via IVF is more likely as compared to first time. A healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) will be in the range 18-25, will result in higher probability of pregnancy through an IVF. If IVF doesn’t result in pregnancy even after the third attempt, sadly it’s time for you to accept that IVF has failed.
Does IVF have side-effects?
There might be a few cases in which an
In Vitro Fertilization might result in certain problems:
- Since multiple embryos are transferred into the uterus, it might result in twins or even more babies, which couple might feel a little troublesome to handle.
- Sometimes ovaries might result in over stimulation, in which case few days at the hospital are needed to get things back on track. Minor side effects might include a headache, nausea and burning flushes.
- In very few cases, the pregnancy might be ectopic, wherein the embryo attaches outside the uterus
In spite of these minor side effects, high majority of couples who face problems in pregnancy go for IVF as their first resort. Counselling, along with treatment plays a very vital role in making the mother feel confident. Choosing an IVF specialist rightly is a very critical step.
