Steps of IVF procedure

• As a first step, your doctor will perform some investigation tests to pinpoint the reasons of infertility which are either male, female, both, or unexplained infertility
• Following the investigations, the journey of IVF starts with hormonal ovarian stimulation to increase the number of eggs obtained over the normal one egg per month. This is done through medications. Your doctor will decide the appropriate protocol of medications (type, amount and sequence) depending on your age, previous trials, and ovarian reserve. The duration of hormonal stimulation takes from 10-15 days. The patient will receive transvaginal ultrasound and blood tests on a regular basis during this step to check on follicles and hormonal levels
• When the follicles of eggs reach the optimum size, the patient is ready to do the egg retrieval. The patient takes an injection to help the eggs mature quickly, called the trigger injection.
• After 34-36 hours the patient will have her minor procedure to aspirate the follicles and isolate the eggs. This is done in the IVF unit under sedation. The doctor uses ultrasound to guide a thin needle to retrieve eggs. This is a day case, non painful procedure
• Eggs are then incubated in an incubator with an atmosphere that mimics the women’s womb
• The partner gives a semen sample to inseminate the eggs. It is well treated to choose the best sperm quality
• The dissection of eggs (which is the removal of cells around the eggs) is ready to be done after two hours of pick up
• Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is done for the eggs after one hour from dissection. Each sperm is injected inside one egg.
• Eggs are then cultured in a culture media inside the newest generation of Fertilization is checked the day after and written on the patient report
• Each day in the morning, embryos are checked for division, it is graded according to the morphology of embryos
• According to the history and age of the patient, the number of embryos transferred is decided on either day 3 or 5 from the egg retrieval
• Embryo transfer is done under the guidance of ultrasound, using a thin catheter. It is a non painful procedure that takes a maximum of ten minutes
• A pregnancy test is done after 12-14 days
• Unused embryos are frozen inside special tanks with liquid nitrogen. So the patient can use them anytime they want without going through a new procedure
• In cases of gender selection or genetic testing embryos are biopsied either on day 3 or5, and analyzed in the genetic laboratory; so that we transfer the desired embryos.