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When thinking about IVF procedure you should know that it stands for in vitro fertilization. This means that the egg and the sperm are manually combined. If the procedure is successful the embryo will be transferred by the doctors into the uterus of the mother.

Information about the procedure of IVF

If you are thinking about having this procedure you should know that there are five main steps. These involve monitoring and stimulating egg production, egg collection, getting a sperm sample, combining the egg and the sperms and transferring the embryo into the womb.

Step one

The beginning of in vitro fertilization procedure is for the women to take drugs to control the ripening and the timing of the eggs to be able to collect several eggs during a cycle. There is need for several eggs because some of them won’t fertilize or develop after they are collected.

Step two

At this step of the IVF procedure the doctors collect the eggs with the help of a needle that is placed inside through the pelvic cavity. Women receive local anesthesia and sedation to reduce the discomfort. After this, women could experience some cramping that usually disappears the following day.

Step three

During this step the future father has to offer a sperm sample. This sperm will be combined with the egg. First the sperm needs to be cleaned of the seminal fluid so that there will be only the sperms, thus increasing the chances of fertilization.

Step four

This is the insemination step of the IVF procedure. The sperm and the eggs are placed into an incubator in a laboratory setting. This is where fertilization takes place. If the chances of fertilization are low, the specialists could use ICSI. This means that there is a single sperm injected into the egg.

In case of the IVF process it is very important to make sure that fertilization actually takes place. This is why the specialists monitor the eggs for a while. Once they are certain that they have been fertilized they will be referred to as embryos and they will be ready to be transferred into the uterus of the mother.

Step five

At the end of the IVF procedure the embryos are transferred to the womb of the mother. This happens 1-6 days after retrieval, but it usually takes place during the second or third day. For the transfer there is a speculum inserted into the vagina and the embryo is placed with the help of a catheter.

After the process of IVF it is possible for women to experience some cramping. Once the procedure is done women should get some rest. It is also important to keep an eye out for the early signs of pregnancy to make sure that the procedure was successful.

The conclusion is that the IVF procedure is quite complicated and the sad truth is that there is no guarantee that the procedure will be successful and that you will get pregnant.