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Fertility Treatments

IVF

IVF or In Vitro Fertilization is the gold standard of fertility medicine and the most effective fertility treatment available offering the highest success rates per cycle of any Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

ICSI ICSI

MINI IVF MINI IVF

NATURAL IVF NATURAL IVF

FET FET

ESET ESET

INVOCELL INVOCELL

CONVENTIONAL IVF CONVENTIONAL IVF

ICSI

A special fertilization technique whereby sperm are loaded into a micro needle and injected directly into the egg.

MINI IVF

IVF with a reduced medication protocol designed to recruit fewer, but higher quality eggs than standard stimulation.

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NATURAL IVF

An IVF cycle with no medications to retrieve one egg. Not often recommended.

FET

The transfer of a previously frozen embryo from an IVF cycle. Often with similar or better success than fresh transfers.

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ESET

The practice of transferring only one embryo. Same success rates, reduced risk to mother and fetuses associated with multiples pregnancies.

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INVOCELL

A IVF fertilization alternative where sperm and egg are placed in a thumb sized medical device and inserted into the vagina for fertilization and early development.

+ Learn More

CONVENTIONAL IVF

Sperm and egg are left in a petri dish after retrieval and collection to fertilize “naturally.” An ICSI alternative.

ICSI
A special fertilization technique whereby sperm are loaded into a micro needle and injected directly into the egg.
MINI IVF
IVF with a reduced medication protocol designed to recruit fewer, but higher quality eggs than standard stimulation.
+Learn More
NATURAL IVF
An IVF cycle with no medications to retrieve one egg. Not often recommended.
FET
The transfer of a previously frozen embryo from an IVF cycle. Often with similar or better success than fresh transfers.
+ Learn More
ESET
The practice of transferring only one embryo. Same success rates, reduced risk to mother and fetuses associated with multiples pregnancies.
+ Learn More
INVOCELL
A IVF fertilization alternative where sperm and egg are placed in a thumb sized medical device and inserted into the vagina for fertilization and early development.
+ Learn More
CONVENTIONAL IVF
Sperm and egg are left in a petri dish after retrieval and collection to fertilize “naturally.” An ICSI alternative.

IVF Process

In Vitro Fertilization has hundreds of steps, but can be drastically simplified down to just a few.

Stimulation
Medications are taken to improve number and quality of eggs.
Retrieval & Collection
Eggs and Sperm are retrieved and collected.
Laboratory
Eggs are Fertilized and developed inside our embryology laboratory.
Transfer
Embryo(s) are transfered into a woman’s uterus.

Continue Below For Detailed Explanation of Main Steps

IVF Step 1

Ovarian Stimulation

During ovarian stimulation, most women take hormone-based medications that encourage the ovaries to develop multiple follicles, each of which contains an egg. The simple idea here is more follicles = more eggs = more embryos = higher chance of implantation and a live birth. In fact, many IVF cycles will result in a handful of embryos that can be frozen and stored for future use (in case the first transfer is unsuccessful or for use after a successful pregnancy).

Ovarian stimulation typically begins on days 2-4 of a woman’s cycle after a baseline appointment to designate your uterine lining, follicular, and hormonal baseline. Stimulation usually involves taking daily injectable medications for around ten days and will be followed closely with monitoring appointments every few days to track uterine lining, follicular, and hormonal development.

Once the egg-containing follicles reach the appropriate size, a final “trigger” medication will be used to promote the final maturation of the eggs.

IVF Step 2

The Egg Retrieval and Sperm Collection

Egg Retrieval

The Egg Retrieval Procedure is a minor outpatient procedure done to collect the developed eggs from the woman’s ovaries so that they can be fertilized in a laboratory. It is performed 35 hours after the “trigger,” by a physician at one of our offices under light anesthesia for comfort and lasts approximately 5-10 minutes.

During the procedure, the physician uses a tiny hollow needle with suction capabilities to pierce through the vaginal wall and drain the fluid from the follicles which contain the developed eggs.

The follicular fluid containing the eggs is immediately transported about 20 steps to our IVF laboratory and sorted through by one of our embryologists who will find, isolate, and nurture your eggs in media as they await fertilization.

The number of eggs retrieved will depend on your age, history, fertility diagnosis, medication protocol and response to medications.

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Sperm Collection

If the sperm is being provided by a male partner, it is most often collected through ejaculation into a sterile cup the morning of the egg retrieval. If necessary, sperm can be collected using more advanced sperm retrieval procedures like a PESA, TESA, or TESE. Sperm can also be collected ahead of time, frozen, and then thawed the morning of the retrieval – this is particularly useful if the male partner will not be able to present at the office the day of the procedure. Sperm may also be provided by a donor.

Once the andrology lab receives the semen, the andrology team will clean and concentrate the sperm from the larger sample of semen. After this first step of isolation, the sperm is washed and suspended in a solution that mimics the environment of the Fallopian tubes in the female reproductive tract.

Once this process is complete, the concentrated motile sperm will be transferred to the embryology lab where fertilization will take place.

IVF Step 3

The Laboratory - Fertilization

It takes about 4-6 hours after the retrieval for the eggs to reach final maturity. At this point, the eggs and sperm will be ready for fertilization. There are generally two methods of fertilization.

Traditional In Vitro Fertilization
Self-employed penetration of the egg by sperm inside a petri dish.
ICSI - Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection
Individually injected eggs with a micro manipulator and hollow needle.

The Laboratory - Embryo Development

After fertilization, the embryos are grown in nourishing media that mimics the internal environment of a fallopian tube (where early embryonic development naturally occurs) for 3-5 day or until the embryo reaches a cleavage or blastocyst stage.

If an embryo is grown to a blastocyst stage, it can then be genetically tested. While this may be beneficial for some, it is not recommended for everyone.

Establishing and Maintaining Pregnancy

Post Transfer Considerations

Following an embryo transfer, most women will likely take progesterone along with other medications to thicken the uterine lining to help the embryo implant and receive the nourishment it needs to flourish.

About two weeks after transfer, a blood test will be performed to determine if the pregnancy has taken.

If the pregnancy test is positive, an ultrasound will be scheduled two weeks later to determine the implantation site and often detects a heartbeat. The heartbeat should be seen by four weeks after a positive pregnancy test. Once a heartbeat is detected, there is a 90-95% probability that the pregnancy will continue to a live birth.

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