In Vitro fertilization (IVF)

In vitro fertilization (IVF) involves fertilization outside the body in a laboratory environment. To date, thousands of babies have been delivered worldwide as a result of IVF treatment. Over the years, the procedures to achieve IVF pregnancy have become increasingly simpler, safer, and more successful.

To achieve a pregnancy from IVF treatment, several steps are involved:

• Stimulation of the ovary to produce several fertilizable oocytes (eggs)
• Retrieval of the oocytes from the ovary
• Fertilization of the oocytes and culture of the embryos in the IVF Laboratory
• Placement of the embryos into the uterus for implantation (embryo transfer or ET)

Introduction to IVF: https://youtu.be/jh6j4hzBJi8

• Absent fallopian tubes or tubal disease that cannot be treated successfully by surgery
• Endometriosis that has not responded to surgical or medical treatment
• A male factor contributing to infertility, in which sperm counts, motility or morphology are low but enough sperm can be produced or retrieved by surgical means to allow fertilization in the laboratory
• Unexplained infertility that has not responded to other treatments

Intracytoplasmic Sperm injection (ICSI)

Male Factor Infertility

During IVF, eggs collected from a woman's ovaries and sperm collected from a man are joined together in a lab to form embryos. Two, or sometimes three, embryos are transferred to a woman's uterus to establish a pregnancy. In most cases, IVF is done using hormone medicines to increase the chances of success. IVF include combinations of the following procedures

• Stimulation of the ovaries and baseline ultrasound and monitoring ultrasounds
• Baseline measuring and monitoring of estradiol levels
• Cryopreservation of back-up semen specimen
• Harvesting and culture of eggs (egg retrieval)
• Sperm preparation and insemination of the eggs using Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
• Culture of embryos
• Preparation of embryos for transfer
• Embryo transfer with ultrasound guidance
• Preimplantation genetic diagnosis
• Cryopreservation and thawing of sperm, eggs, and embryos
  

Intracytoplasmic Sperm injection (ICSI)

Male Factor Infertility

Injecting sperm directly into the egg ensure that the egg is fertilized. This is helpful in men with abnormal semen analysis, women with severely decrease ovarian reserve, couples undergoing genetic screening of the sperm, and couples with previous fertilization failure. 

Experienced laboratory staff watch your embryos grow. All embryos are preferably grown to day 5/6 to identify the embryos with the greatest potential to suceed and give a live birth. 

Your doctor with discuss with you the best type of embryo transfer with your. This will depend on may factors than include the following: Age, cycle outcome, number of embryos available for transfer, hormone levels, and the risk of ovarian hyperstimulaiton.

Pre Implantation Genetic Screening (PGS): For couples who need testing for genetic conditions involving whole chromosomes or large areas of a chromosome. Appropriate for couples with multiple miscarriages. PGS increase pregnancy rates and decrease miscarriage rates. Pre Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) involves testing cells from embryos of couples who have a specific genetic condition they do not want to pass on to their children. 

Men who do not ejaculate sperm due to blocked or missing tubes in their reproductive system can have sperm retrieved from their reproductive tract. The retrieved sperm is cryopreserved for use in a future IVF cycle.