IVF

The IVF Process: A Step-by-Step Overview

IVF involves multiple steps that require coordination and timing. From beginning to end, the entire process can take several months. While IVF has high success rates, some patients undergo multiple cycles to successfully conceive. Everyone experiences their own unique journey, but IVF typically consists of seven steps:

1. Ovarian Stimulation If the patient is using their own eggs, they’ll take prescribed fertility medications to stimulate their ovaries. The average female produces only one mature egg per menstrual cycle. However, these medications stimulate the ovaries into producing multiple mature eggs at once, increasing the chances of a successful IVF treatment.
2. Retrieve Mature Eggs Once the eggs have matured, a reproductive specialist will remove them via a minimally invasive surgical procedure. The doctor uses an ultrasonic probe inserted into the vagina to help them navigate a needle so that it can collect the mature eggs from the ovary. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and only takes up to a half hour to complete.
3. Prepare Sperm for Fertilization The male patient will ejaculate into a cup to provide a sperm sample for the procedure. This can be an intended parent or a sperm donor. Once produced, the semen sample is washed, resulting in a concentrated sample of healthy sperm. This helps increase the odds of fertilization.
4. Fertilization and Embryonic Development The egg and sperm are mixed in a petri dish to allow for insemination. The sample is left to culture for 12-16 hours before being assessed. If fertilization has been successful, the embryos will develop for 3-5 days until they reach the blastocyst stage of embryonic development. At this point, patients have the option to transfer the embryo into the recipient's uterus or freeze it for future insemination.
5. Embryo Transfer At the Indiana Fertility Institute, we typically only transfer one to two embryos in a single cycle, which is what is recommended by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). A reproductive specialist uses an ultrasound and a catheter to transfer the embryos directly into the uterus. The process feels similar to a routine pap smear.
6. Blood Tests and Pregnancy Two weeks after the embryo transfer, the patient will come back to the clinic for a blood test. The blood test measures whether the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone is present in the bloodstream. This hormone indicates pregnancy. About a month after embryo transfer, an ultrasound is scheduled to confirm the pregnancy.
7. Freeze Remaining Embryos After the IVF process, patients sometimes end up with several viable embryos that they are not ready to use. They can either freeze them for future IVF cycles or make them available for adoption.