In Vitro fertilization is the proper medical name for what the press dubbed ‘test tube babies’ many years ago. 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 may be recommended for a number of reasons including; age, other techniques have failed, the woman’s tubes are blocked or the infertility cannot be explained.

The In Vitro Fertilization process should go something like the method set out below but may differ slightly between clinics. Your doctor will give some drugs to block the hormones normally released during the menstrual cycle. Blocking the hormones helps the doctor have greater control over your egg production. To ensure you ovaries produce more than a single egg, further drugs are given.

IVF Protocol...

To monitor your developing eggs, vaginal ultrasound scans are taken as well as blood tests to ensure that the eggs are increasing the estrogen level. Another hormone injection will be given when the tests show the time is right to help the eggs mature. This injection is given 34 to 38 hours before the eggs will be collected to the timing of this is very important. Ultrasound guidance is used to help collect the egg but it means you have to be given drugs or a general anesthetic to help you relax because it takes about 30 minutes.

It is now the male’s job to ensure that a fresh sperm sample is ready. 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. With donated sperm, the process is the same but the sample is taken from the freezer. The process then continues with the eggs and sperm left for 16 to 20 hours in a laboratory dish to mix and after that period, checked to see if they have fertilized. Any that haven’t, or any that have fertilized abnormally, are discarded and the remaining embryos are then left for another 24-48 hours before being checked again.

Once your eggs have been collected there is a waiting period of two days, then you are given pessaries, an injection or gel to ready the lining of your womb.

IVF Protocol

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