Most people know the term ‘test tube baby’ but the correct name for this process is ‘In Vitro fertilization’. Essentially, a woman’s eggs are removed from her ovaries and sperm from her partner or donor is used to fertilize them before being inserted into her womb. In Vitro Fertilization is recommended if you are an older woman, have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, those whose tubes are blocked, or if other techniques have been unsuccessful.

Methods of IVF will invariably differ a little from clinic to clinic but should proceed along these lines. Initially your physician will give you hormone blocking drugs normally produced during your menstrual period. The reason for this is to assist control over when the eggs are ready. After this your ovaries are stimulated by drugs to create more than one egg.

IVF Calendar...

It’s important that levels of estrogen produced by the eggs are monitored so a combination of blood tests and vaginal ultrasound scans are used. As soon as the tests show that the time is right, you will have another injection of a different hormone to help your eggs mature. The reason for this is that the eggs will be collected between 34 and 38 hours later, even if it is the middle of the night. When it is time to collect the eggs, you may be given a general anesthetic or drugs to make you feel drowsy as they are collected by ultrasound guidance and it takes about 30 minutes.

Next the man must produce some fresh sperm at about the same time as the eggs are collected. This will be stored for a short time before the sperm are washed and spun at a high speed, so that the healthiest and most active can be selected. For a woman using donated sperm, the same process is used once the sperm has been taken from the freezer. After the eggs and sperm have been collected they are left to mix in a laboratory dish for between 16 and 20 hours and then inspected to see whether fertilization has taken place. Successfully fertilized embryos are then left for a further day to two days before the last inspection is carried out.

Two days after your eggs have been collected; you are given an injection, gel or pessaries to help prepare the lining of your womb.

IVF Calendar

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