What’s IVF
IVF is the abbreviation of In Vitro Fertilization, which means fertilization in a test tube, hence the name “test tube baby”.

Who can have IVF
Assisted reproduction should only begin when a couple is physically and emotionally ready. Experienced, caring professionals who understand your emotional as well as your physical needs and who strive to give you the total support you deserve will treat you. For most patients this is a last hope for pregnancy after a long and difficult term of treatment and investigations.

IVF Process

1. Gathering the Eggs
   Once you are accepted into the program and after your review with your physician, treatment can begin. To initiate a treatment cycle, the prospective mother (or egg donor) receives medication prescribed that stimulates her ovaries to produce several mature eggs. Frequent blood hormone tests and periodic ultrasound examinations of the ovaries determine when the eggs are mature; eggs are then retrieved by the physician for in vitro fertilization, embryo culture and eventual embryo transfer.
2. In Vitro Fertilization / Embryo Transfer
   The wife’s harvested eggs are placed with the husband’s sperm in a petri dish where fertilization can occur or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is performed. After two to five days, selected embryos that have developed are transferred to the wife’s uterus through a catheter passed into the uterus through the vagina and cervix. Additional embryos may be cryopreserved. If an embryo implants in the uterine wall, a pregnancy is achieved.
3. Blastocyst Culture
   This technique allows embryos to develop over five or six days. At this stage they have approximately 100 cells and are called blastocysts. It is easier to estimate the viability of more advanced embryos, so fewer need to be transferred. Sometimes only a single embryo may be sufficient to achieve a pregnancy, thereby drastically reducing the chance of multiple births (e.g. Twins) while maintaining likelihood of implantation.
4. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection
   About 40% of patients in this program will be treated with Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). This is done when the husband’s sperm cells are too few in number, lack motility, or are unable to penetrate the wife’s egg. However, ICSI can overcome such problems by injecting a sperm cell directly into an egg. This is done under high magnification with microscopic glass instruments.
5. Testicular and Epididymal Sperm Harvesting
   When sperm cannot be obtained naturally from the prospective father, sperm can be harvested directly from the testicle or epididymis. These sperms can then be injected directly into eggs (ICSI). 
6. Preimplantation Genetic Testing
   For prospective parents who have experienced repeated miscarriages or whose offspring might be at risk for inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia, genetic testing in vitro can drastically improve the chances of transferring embryos that are healthy and do not carry defective genes.
7. Cryopreservation
   Unused, healthy embryos can be frozen and stored almost indefinitely through a process called cryopreservation. Such embryos can be transferred later at a fraction of the cost of a new IVF cycle. Cryopreservation of eggs is currently experimental and rarely successful at this time.
8. What’s next?
   The intense activity leading up to embryo transfer is followed by a waiting period. Two weeks after the egg retrieval, a blood test is performed to determine whether implantation in the uterus has occurred and if you are pregnant. Once a healthy, ongoing pregnancy is confirmed by ultrasound, you will be referred back to your own obstetrician for care. The IVF team will work with your doctor for a smooth transition during your first trimester.

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