Fertility treatment how does it work

We recommend both you and your partner attend this appointment. FSH is administered through a diabetic-style pen, stimulating your ovaries to produce more eggs than usual. We have a higher chance of achieving fertilisation and pregnancy when we can collect more eggs.

Throughout your cycle, regular blood tests measure your hormone levels and ultrasounds measure the size and number of your ovarian follicles.

This also helps us determine the appropriate time for egg collection. All your blood and ultrasound tests are conducted by our nurses within your chosen IVFAustralia clinic, and are included as part of your treatment costs. Once you have the optimum number and size of follicles, we plan your egg collection.

The hCG injection replaces the natural Luteinising Hormone in the body and 'triggers' or instigates ovulation. Egg collection is undertaken in day surgery, usually under ultrasound guidance. Most women prefer a light general anaesthetic, but you can have a local anaesthetic with sedation if you prefer. You will be at the hospital for about 4 hours and will need someone to drive you home afterwards. Make sure you can take the rest of the day off work.

On the morning of your egg collection your partner will need to provide a fresh semen sperm sample, so we can immediately fertilise your eggs.

Collected eggs are taken to the laboratory and placed in culture medium to prepare them for fertilisation later that day. In IVF, prepared sperm and eggs are placed together in a dish where fertilisation occurs.

In ICSI, an individual sperm is selected by a highly experienced embryologist, and, under very delicate microscopic control, the egg is injected with this single sperm.

The egg and sperm are then placed in individual incubators at 37 degrees to mimic the temperature of the human body. The next day, scientists will examine the eggs to determine if fertilisation has occurred, and will call you to advise you of the development of the embryos. Embryo transfer is a simple day surgery procedure and usually takes place five days after the egg collection. The embryos are transferred into the uterus through a very fine catheter passed through the cervix, a procedure similar to a pap smear.

In some cases we may recommend transferring embryos earlier. Any extra embryos not used during a treatment cycle that are suitable for freezing can be stored for the future. Your nurse will organise an appointment for you to have a blood test two weeks after the embryo transfer. Occasionally, women can still have a period despite being pregnant, so this blood test will occur even if your period has commenced. We do not recommend the use of urinary pregnancy test kits, as the hormone medication given throughout treatment could produce an incorrect reading.

Your pregnancy blood test results are usually available by mid afternoon. If the pregnancy test is positive, we will arrange an ultrasound scan approximately three weeks later. IVF treatment is tailored to your specific needs by your fertility specialist. Most patients who undergo IVF will be prescribed one of two main treatment protocols Long Down Regulation and Antagonist treatment cycles.

Approximately 3 weeks after your period starts you will have a blood test and begin pre-IVF treatment [GnRH analogue] in the form of a Synarel nasal spray or Lucrin injection to control your natural hormones before the fertility medication starts. About 12 days later another blood test will be taken to make sure your own hormones are low [or down regulated] and you will be instructed when to begin daily hormone Follicle Stimulating Hormone injections [Gonal-F or Puregon].

You will continue taking the Synarel or Lucrin throughout this time. You will be monitored closely with blood tests and ultrasounds until you have an optimum number and size of developed follicles.

Once you are ready will we advise when to have your hCG trigger injection and schedule your egg collection 36 hours later. After egg collection you will use supplemental progesterone either as a vaginal gel, pessary or subcutaneous injections until your pregnancy test two weeks later.

Antagonist treatment uses injectable drugs called antagonists to prevent premature ovulation. It is the most commonly used treatment protocol because the shorter cycle makes it more convenient for patients and reduces the risk of hyper-stimulation. Starting on the second day of your period you will have a blood test and providing all your hormone levels are low, you will be advised to begin Follicle Stimulating Hormone FSH injections [Gonal-F or Puregon] that day.

After four days of injections you start a second injection [Cetrotide or Orgalutron] to switch off your own hormones and prevent premature release of the eggs. Once you are ready will we advise when to have your hCG trigger injection and schedule your egg collection 36 hours later After egg collection you will use supplemental progesterone either as a vaginal gel, pessary or subcutaneous injections until your pregnancy test two weeks later. Today, we're gonna talk about the protocols we use in an IVF cycle.

What we're trying to do is get you pregnant, and this is the way we're gonna be doing it. We start on day two, usually, giving injections of FSH. That's the hormone that normally comes from your brain to tell your ovaries what to do, and what we give you is a synthetic version of that at a much higher dose than your brain normally does so we get lots of eggs.

So we start that on day two and in most cases, that's a daily injection in your tummy, like a diabetic does for their insulin injections, with a little pen which has got a tiny little needle on it, and that happens every day.

And then at day five or six, we start a second injection. So the first one was to try and make as many eggs as possible. The second injection, which is on a daily basis, called an antagonist, a GnRH antagonist, cetrotide or orgalutran, that is to stop you ovulating, stop you releasing the eggs before we get to collect them.

Obviously, it would be a waste of a cycle if you ovulated yourself before we were able to harvest them. So you're taking two injections a day, usually at the same time, it's recommended they're taken in the evening but the time is not vital, it doesn't need to be on the same hour every day, but in the evenings on a regular basis.

From that point on, you'll probably probably have one or two or three blood tests and ultrasound scans, transvaginal ultrasound scans, to watch the follicles growing and to measure the hormones that are being produced by those follicles.

Then the specialist will see those results on a daily basis and make decisions about whether to change the dosage of the drugs that you're using, or to make that final decision of it's time. It's time to collect the eggs. At that point, time is then set for the egg collection to take place.

When the eggs are ready for collection, they need a final maturing injection, an injection that makes the eggs go from 46 chromosomes to It's what happens in nature, just before ovulation, so that your 23 chromosomes can meet up with the 23 chromosomes of the sperm, and that requires a trigger injection, it's called. These days we use a synthetic version of the pregnancy hormone hCG, but we also can use hCG itself.

Read more about the availability of IVF. If you're having trouble getting pregnant, you should start by speaking to your GP. They can advise on how to improve your chances of having a baby. If these measures don't work, your GP can refer you to a fertility specialist for a treatment such as IVF.

Read more about getting started with IVF. Once the embryo s has been transferred into your womb, you'll need to wait 2 weeks before taking a pregnancy test to see if the treatment has worked.

During this period, you may find it useful to speak to a counsellor through the fertility clinic, or to contact other people in a similar situation to you through the HealthUnlocked IVF community. If you do become pregnant, ultrasound scans will be carried out during the following weeks to check things are progressing as expected. You'll then be offered the normal antenatal care given to all pregnant women.

Unfortunately, IVF is unsuccessful in many cases and you should try to prepare yourself for this possibility. You may be able to try again if treatment doesn't work, although you shouldn't rush straight into it. You may find counselling or fertility support groups helpful during this difficult time.

Read more about the support available during IVF. Page last reviewed: 18 October Next review due: 18 October For women Step 1: suppressing the natural menstrual cycle You're given a medicine that will suppress your natural menstrual cycle. Step 2: helping your ovaries produce more eggs Once your natural cycle is suppressed, you take a fertility hormone called follicle stimulating hormone FSH. Step 3: checking progress The clinic will keep an eye on you throughout the treatment.

Step 4: collecting the eggs You'll be sedated and your eggs will be collected using a needle that's passed through your vagina and into each ovary under ultrasound guidance. This is a minor procedure that takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Step 5: fertilising the eggs The collected eggs are mixed with your partner's or the donor's sperm in a laboratory to fertilise them. Step 6: embryo transfer A few days after the eggs are collected, the embryos are transferred into your womb.

The fertilized egg embryo is transferred into the uterus C. In vitro fertilization IVF is a complex series of procedures used to help with fertility or prevent genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child.

During IVF , mature eggs are collected retrieved from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. Then the fertilized egg embryo or eggs embryos are transferred to a uterus. One full cycle of IVF takes about three weeks.

Sometimes these steps are split into different parts and the process can take longer. IVF is the most effective form of assisted reproductive technology. The procedure can be done using a couple's own eggs and sperm. Or IVF may involve eggs, sperm or embryos from a known or anonymous donor. In some cases, a gestational carrier — someone who has an embryo implanted in the uterus — might be used.

Your chances of having a healthy baby using IVF depend on many factors, such as your age and the cause of infertility. In addition, IVF can be time-consuming, expensive and invasive. If more than one embryo is transferred to the uterus, IVF can result in a pregnancy with more than one fetus multiple pregnancy.

Your doctor can help you understand how IVF works, the potential risks and whether this method of treating infertility is right for you. In vitro fertilization IVF is a treatment for infertility or genetic problems. If IVF is performed to treat infertility, you and your partner might be able to try less-invasive treatment options before attempting IVF , including fertility drugs to increase production of eggs or intrauterine insemination — a procedure in which sperm are placed directly in the uterus near the time of ovulation.

Sometimes, IVF is offered as a primary treatment for infertility in women over age IVF can also be done if you have certain health conditions. For example, IVF may be an option if you or your partner has:. Fertility preservation for cancer or other health conditions. If you're about to start cancer treatment — such as radiation or chemotherapy — that could harm your fertility, IVF for fertility preservation may be an option.

Women can have eggs harvested from their ovaries and frozen in an unfertilized state for later use. Or the eggs can be fertilized and frozen as embryos for future use. Women who don't have a functional uterus or for whom pregnancy poses a serious health risk might choose IVF using another person to carry the pregnancy gestational carrier. In this case, the woman's eggs are fertilized with sperm, but the resulting embryos are placed in the gestational carrier's uterus.

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Use of injectable fertility drugs, such as human chorionic gonadotropin HCG , to induce ovulation can cause ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, in which your ovaries become swollen and painful. Symptoms typically last a week and include mild abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. If you become pregnant, however, your symptoms might last several weeks.

Rarely, it's possible to develop a more severe form of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome that can also cause rapid weight gain and shortness of breath. A clinic's success rate depends on many factors. These include patients' ages and medical issues, as well as the clinic's treatment population and treatment approaches. Ask for detailed information about the costs associated with each step of the procedure. Before beginning a cycle of IVF using your own eggs and sperm, you and your partner will likely need various screenings, including:.