What is In Vitro Fertilisation

The goal is to encourage as much follicle growth as possible, but at the same time avoid hyperstimulation. To do this, the specialists will prescribe medication to promote multi-follicular growth.

Depending on your state of health and the reason you are undergoing IVF, the protocol for ovarian stimulation will be determined. Generally, the stimulation is carried out through injections and does not cause any side effects in the patient, beyond the typical abdominal discomfort due to the growth of the ovaries, such as slight swelling and heaviness in the lower abdomen. In exceptional cases, as mentioned above, there may be an excessive response to the treatment (ovarian hyperstimulation). However, as you are under permanent medical supervision, our professionals will detect and treat any signs of risk, no matter how slight.

At IVFforYOU we provide complete support during this stage, as monitoring the evolution of the cycle is essential.

The ovarian puncture, also known as egg collection or retrieval, is when the follicles are punctured to obtain the eggs to be fertilised.

For this, the patient must be admitted to the operating theatre on an outpatient basis so that the specialists can extract and analyse the oocytes, which will then be classified according to their degree of maturation.

At the same time, while the oocytes are being extracted and analysed, the semen sample provided by the male partner is received in the laboratory, or the donor’s sperm sample is thawed and prepared.

Once the eggs are retrieved and the sperm sample is received (from the partner or a donor), the union is performed in the laboratory.

During this phase, the embryos will be cultured in an incubator where they will be monitored daily and will remain in conditions that simulate those of the human body. The goal of this is that later, when they are transferred, they react well to change and are affected as little as possible by the variation in the environment.

The selection of the best quality embryos that have developed optimally will lead to the next phase.

Once the embryo selection process has been completed by the team of embryologists, the transfer of one embryo, or at most two embryos, is carried out. In Spain, the law currently allows up to three embryos to be transferred, however, this is not recommended as there is a high possibility of multiple pregnancies. At IVFforYOU, we transfer a single embryo in 90% of cases, without this affecting our success rates, which are still very high.

The period between the end of an Assisted Reproduction treatment and the time when the patient can take a pregnancy test is called two-week-waiting.

In the case of IVF, this period is 12 to 15 days and is counted from the day the embryo transfer was performed.