IVF
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) - IVF is an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) procedure used to treat a range of fertility problems. In IVF treatment, the process of fertilisation occurs outside the female body. A woman’s eggs are surgically removed from her ovaries via the egg collection procedure, and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory culture dish. Once fertilised, the embryo is implanted into the woman’s womb.
How does IVF treatment work? In IVF treatment, fertility drugs are given to the female partner to stimulate the production of multiple eggs which are contained in follicles on the ovaries. Progress is monitored using ultrasound and blood tests. When the leading follicle reaches 17-22mm, the final preparation for the egg collection is done. This involves a hormone injection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), which is given approximately 35- 36 hours before the egg collection. The hCG injection stimulates the eggs to mature.
Egg Collection
An ultrasound guided vaginal probe is used to locate the follicles and aspirate its contents. The eggs are then placed in culture in our state of the art laboratory. It is difficult to determine the number of eggs that will be collected until the procedure. In rare cases, no eggs are collected.
In the Lab
Eggs are placed into a culture dish with sperm, and left to fertilise and develop under close observation from the embryology team. Next day the embryologist checks for number of eggs which have been fertilised
How long do embryos take to develop?
The day after the sperm is mixed with the egg, embryologists will look for signs of fertilisation. The following day they will check to see if the embryo has cleaved. Embryos can be transferred at any stage from day 2 up to day 6. By day 5 or 6, the embryos should reach the blastocyst stage.
The embryologists monitor and grade the embryos very carefully. In the majority of cases, if the embryos have developed well we would recommend a single embryo to be transferred to reduce the risk of twins.
What happens to embryos that are not transferred?
All good quality embryos that are not transferred will be frozen.DPU IVF AND ENDOSCOPY CENTER has a very high pregnancy rate for frozen embryo transfers. This gives a very high chance of getting pregnant in a subsequent cycle without having to go through the whole IVF procedure again.