Test tube babies, as they are commonly known, are created using IVF or In Vitro Fertilization which literally means fertilization in glass. Eggs are removed from the ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory dish before being placed in the woman’s 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. The first thing your doctor will do is to stop the hormones released by the pituitary gland during your period by the use of other drugs. Blocking the hormones helps the doctor have greater control over your egg production. Once this has been done further drugs are given to multiply the number of eggs your ovaries produce.

IVF Meds...

Estrogen levels produced by the eggs are monitored to ensure they rise, using vaginal ultrasound scans and blood tests. Another hormone injection will be given when the tests show the time is right to help the eggs mature. The eggs are collected between 34 and 38 hours after the injection is given so the timing for it is crucial. 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.

It’s about this time that the man must produce some fresh sperm. After a short storage period the sperm are washed and spun at high speed to enable the most active and healthiest to be chosen. If you are using donated sperm, the sample is taken from the freezer and prepared in the same way. 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. Only those embryos that have fertilized successfully are kept and left for a further day to two days before a final inspection.

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 Meds

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