What Is IVF?

In vitro fertilization is a relatively simple and painless procedure. For patients with inoperative fallopian tubes, couples experiencing male fertility problems or those who have been unsuccessful with less advanced treatments, IVF is often the best alternative to achieve pregnancy.

Simply stated, IVF involves collecting eggs and sperm from you and your partner and placing them together in a laboratory dish for fertilization. Days later the microscopic embryos are transferred into the uterus where implantation and pregnancy will hopefully occur, as in a normal pregnancy.

The IVF procedure usually occurs over a few weeks, and is a four-phase process:

Phase I: Ovarian Stimulation. Medication is used to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple ovarian follicles (eggs).

Phase II: Egg Retrieval. Eggs are retrieved via follicle aspiration, in which a very thin catheter is carefully guided by ultrasound to withdraw the entire contents of the follicle, including the egg.

Phase III: Fertilization. Sperm is collected, washed and placed together with the egg to fertilize. The fertilized eggs are allowed to develop for a few days.

Phase IV: Embryo Transfer. A catheter containing an optimum number of embryos is gently inserted into the uterus and the embryos are transferred back to the mother. Two weeks later a simple blood test will verify if pregnancy has occurred.