The road to pregnancy through IVF begins with an initial consultation with the doctors. In this, the patient has to consult with a fertility expert, wherein a detailed discussion is done exploring the reproductive health or another medical history of both parents. The consultation itself helps identify the possible infertility issues that are the cause of inconceivability. Then, the evaluation is done where they are a lot of tests conducted on both the male and female couple including the assessment of hormone levels, semen analysis, and ultrasounds to devise the most suitable treatment plan.

For effectively initiating the process of an IVF treatment, it is crucial to artificially stimulate the ovaries of the woman so that it could produce multiple eggs. This process is called ovarian stimulation which is done using medication given through injections. Administering the medicine help stimulate the development of follicles, which are fluid-filled sacs containing eggs. During the ovarian stimulation process, the ovaries are evaluated continuously through ultrasounds and blood tests. The results of these test help determine the perfect time for egg retrieval, which is the subsequent step of the IVF treatment.

The next step involves collecting the eggs through the procedure of egg retrieval. When the follicles in the ovaries reach a retrievable size, then the same is retrieved using a small surgical process called egg retrieval. During this, the patient is given anesthesia so that they do not have to go through the discomfort that may be caused during the process. A guided needle is used to retrieve the eggs from the ovaries. The process is not so time-taking and is done in less than 30 minutes. Also, it is an outpatient basis minor surgery so one doesn’t have to stay long hours in the clinic.

On the day of egg retrieval, sperm also needs to be collected to assist in the further IVF process. In this, the male partner has to provide his semen sample or donor sperm can also be used in case of male factor infertility. This sample is then further processed for evaluation and differentiation of healthy motile sperm from poor ones. Seeing the health of the sperm, either IVF or other advanced fertility treatments such as ICSI may be applied to ensure higher chances of fertilization.

The collected eggs and sperms are merged in a culture dish in a laboratory, in order to begin the process of fertilization. This mixture results in the formation of one or more embryos, which are incubated in a simulated laboratory setting. These embryos are observed for a few days, during the time cell division and embryo development take place. The progress of the whole embryo development process is closely evaluated by the embryologists on the monitor. Once, the embryos are developed, the last step remains is embryo transfer.

It takes around 3-4 days for the embryos to develop fully and be ready to get transferred. Amongst the developed embryos, one embryo is selected that has the best quality following an embryo screening process. Also, one or more embryos are transferred to the woman’s uterus, the number of embryos depends on different factors such as the age of the woman, number of IVF procedures done on the patient, embryo quality, preference of the couples, etc. The embryos are placed in the middle of the cavity of the uterus, following a small process called embryo transfer. This process takes only a few minutes and usually does not require sedating the patient.
Lastly, pregnancy tests are performed on the patient after 10-12 days of the embryo transfer.