•  Ovarian stimulation – You will be given hormone injections regularly during the stimulation procedure, which generally lasts 8-14 days. Our staff will constantly evaluate the ovarian response by using vaginal ultrasound and blood estrogen tests. The next step is to give an HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) trigger shot to help ovaries release the eggs for harvest.

• Egg retrieval – This is an outpatient procedure, usually done under a mild dose of anesthesia through ultrasound-guided surgery. The procedure usually takes 20 minutes. On average, 8–12 eggs are collected, depending on various factors, including age and medical conditions. Your partner will also provide a ‘fresh’ self-collected semen sample during this appointment.

• Fertilization– Following egg collection, our embryologist will carefully evaluate the egg condition and begin the fertilization process in the ART lab. In most cases, we use the standard in-vitro insemination process to fertilize the egg with healthy sperm naturally. But, if your partner has low sperm counts or suffers abnormalities of the sperm, we may use an additional procedure called ICSI (intra cytoplasmic sperm injection). As the name suggests, in this procedure, the embryologist directly injects sperm into the egg to significantly enhance your odds of fertilization.

• Embryo growth– Once fertilized, the resulting embryos are allowed to divide over the next 5-6 days and are frequently screened for chromosomal abnormalities. Remember that not all embryos survive to this stage, and the one that successfully does are either used fresh or frozen for the future IVF cycle.

• • Embryo transfer– It is the final IVF process. At this point, the developed embryo is transferred back into the uterus, hoping to result in a pregnancy. Generally, only one embryo is transferred using a speculum inserted through the woman’s vagina and cervix.

The procedure does not require anesthesia and resembles a PAP smear; however, you must have a full bladder so that your physician using an abdominal ultrasound can pinpoint where embryos need to be placed. After the procedure, the woman can resume her normal routine.

• Post transfer care–Our doctors will prescribe hormonal medication and blood tests to determine if the IVF cycle has been successful and pregnancy is achieved. If the cycle is successful, hormone medication will continue for at least another month.
  Note: The first pregnancy test is done 10-14 days after the embryo transfer.