IVF In Vitro Fertilization

Introduction

IVF In Vitro Fertilization is a commonly used technique by millions of infertile couples worldwide. The first baby conceived outside her mother’s womb was Louise Brown in England in 1978. Since then the concept of “test tube babies” has reached to more effective and safer IVF techniques.

Basically the procedure of IVF involves allowing the combination of the sperms and eggs in a laboratory set up outside human body. Once the combination is made successfully the fertilized egg is replaced in the hormone prepared mother’s womb that nurtures it into the baby. IVF treatment can be successfully opted for in women diagnosed with certain medical and gynecological conditions like Endometriosis, problems with uterus or the fallopian tubes, delay or irregular ovulation (release of the egg from the ovary) etc.

In case of the male the problem could be low sperm count, incapability of the sperm to penetrate the mucus barrier at the mouth of the uterus or survive in the uterus etc. Before opting for IVF In Vitro Fertilization the couples are usually treated with other drugs, surgery or other processes like artificial insemination. Once these fail IVF may be chosen.

What is IVF Treatment?

As an initial step to IVF In Vitro Fertilization the woman is given regular injections of hormones so that her ovary produces more than one egg at each month’s ovulatory cycle.

These eggs lie in a ripe follicle on the surface of the ovary just before release. It is before release that these eggs need to be collected. Once the doctor checks with the help of an ultrasound that the eggs are mature and waiting to be released, he or she will initiate the process of retrieval.

The retrieval process is usually painless and is conducted with the woman under sedation. The follicles of the ovary are located using ultrasound guidance and the eggs are retrieved in a syringe using a needle.

The retrieval process is usually painless and is conducted with the woman under sedation. In case of pain, pain relievers may be prescribed. On the same day the husband needs to donate his sperms (sperm donation).

Immediately after the retrieval of the eggs (egg donation), the sperms and the eggs are mixed in the laboratory for combination. In suitable conditions the fertilized eggs are allowed to grow for up to 5days in the laboratory to reach the blastocyst phase. Once the embryos are ready the woman is summoned to the IVF facility.

The insertion of the embryo into the uterus is a shorter process. The embryo is inserted into the uterus using a thin tube called a catheter. The patient is kept in the hospital bed for four to sex hours before she is allowed to go home. For increased chances of success, more than one embryo may be transferred into the uterus. This however may raise the chance of twins or triplets or other multiple pregnancies.

Recuperation Fertility Treatment

Around two weeks after the insertion of the embryo the doctor tests the woman with a pregnancy test to ascertain if she is pregnant. Further the embryos that have been fertilized but have not been used may be frozen and stored if there is a failure at the first attempt.

Chances of success of IVF depend on the age of the woman, other physiological factors and the actual pathology for infertility. Commonest side effects of IVF In Vitro Fertilization may include multiple births.