So, in vitro fertilization means the union of a women’s egg with a man’s sperm inside a laboratory dish.
The IVF procedure is organized in five steps:
1) Stimulation of the woman’s ovaries. The woman is given fertility medications in order to produce more than one egg per month as she usually does. This step of the IVF procedure is also called superovulation. The woman is regulary examined with transvaginal ultrasounds and she takes blood tests in order to check her hormone level.
2)The second step is the egg retrieval. A surgery is performed using ultrasound images as a guide. The doctor inserts a needle in the vagina towards the ovaries and the follicles that contain the eggs. The needle is attached to a suction device that extracts the egg from the follicle. Sometimes the eggs are removed using a pelvic laparoscopy.
3) The sperm is mixed with the egg in a propitious environment. This stage is called insemination. The fertilization takes place after a couple of hours after insemination. When doctors think that the fertilization might not succeed they performe an intracytoplasmic sperm injection, that is they inject the sperm directly into the egg.
4)After the egg is fertilized it becomes an embryo. After another 5 days the embryo’s cells start dividing. At this point couples who have a risk of genetic disease should take into consideration pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. The specialists extract a cell from each embryo and analyse it for hereditary diseases.
5)The fifth step consisit in transfering the embryo in the woman’s uterus. There’s no need for anaesthetic for this procedure. A tube which contains the embryo is inserted in the vagina, through cervix and into the uterus. To increase the chance of pregnancy more embryos can br transferred but this also increases the risk of multiple pregnancies. Embryos that aren’t used in the IVF procedure can be frozen for ulterior implantation or donation.
What you should expect after the procedure
Unfortunatelly not all pregnancies result in live birth, that is not all women who undergo IVF procedure can give birth to a child. The procedure depends highly on the woman’s age. Studies show that the best rate of success had woman under 35 years.
After the procedure most of the women can go back to their daily activities, but they must take hormone progesterone pills for 10 weeks after the embryo is transferred. A progesterone insufficiency in the first weeks of pregnancy can result in a miscarriage.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does progesterone contain hcG?
By: kjacks35 | 19-11-2007
Does progesterone contain hcG?
Brown Discharge
By: lovemakesafamily2007 | 19-11-2007
let me add when this brownish snotty stuff discharges its like a week or two after my period and jsut a few days befor the discharge i have the ovulation pains what does this mean am i fertile during this time.. my first day of my last period was the 3rd.trying to figure out wehn im ovulation exzactly or wehn to inseminate
Can we do the surgery, for my scrotum. and ...
By: aravind | 18-11-2007
can we do the surgery, for my scrotum. and inflateable sperm from it. thing is i have lost both the testicals, can i produce sperm on my own to satisfy oppoiste sex. later have child of my own.
What can cause low semen output and can it be ...
By: ray7222 | 18-11-2007
What can cause low semen output and can it be improved?
With my first child, I practically got pregnant by ...
By: girlstar | 18-11-2007
With my first child, I practically got pregnant by my husband looking at me. I have been ttc for 6 months. Why is it so much more difficult this time around?
Is there still hope
By: pdlewis30 | 18-11-2007
Can I have my period after a IVF cycle and still be pregnant
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