What Is IVF? How Does It Work?

As you may already know, couples that have difficulty conceiving naturally will often turn to a technique known as IVF. It is also common among single women and same-sex couples wanting to start a family to consider this option too.

But have you ever wondered what IVF actually is? What does it stand for and how does it work? Here with everything you need to know is Simply Fertility, an experienced and adept IVF clinic offering a full range of fertility packages from assessment through to treatment.

What is IVF?

IVF stands for In-Vitro Fertilisation and is particularly applicable to women whose fallopian tubes are absent or damaged. However, it can also be used by patients experiencing endometriosis, unexplained female infertility, and male infertility.

The process involves taking a couple’s sperm and eggs, or cells from two donors, and combining them in a petri dish. This is then placed in a laboratory incubator to fertilise.

Between two-to-five days later, one or two of the resulting embryos are transferred to the woman’s uterus. With any luck, they will implant and develop just like they would during a normal pregnancy.

How Does it Work?

A typical IVF journey will look a little like this:

•Preliminary tests and screening - Patients will be fully assessed by a fertility specialist before commencing treatment

•Counselling - Fertility treatment can be an emotional journey, which is helped by counselling for extra support

•Consent and planning - Signing a consent form will also include information about any drugs that need to be taken

•Starting treatment - Treatment will start on Day 1 of your period, which often coincides with taking drugs to regulate the cycle

•Ovarian stimulation and monitoring - Injections are used to stimulate your ovaries, while scans and blood tests may be required to monitor the process

•Egg collection - The procedure to collect eggs will last around half an hour and takes place 36-40 hours after the trigger injection

•Providing sperm - If your treatment uses a fresh sperm sample, it will be provided on the same day as the eggs

•Insemination of the eggs - The sample provided is prepared to ensure that the very best sperm is being used for insemination

•Embryology - The embryos are carefully monitored and graded after insemination to check for fertilisation and signs of development

•Embryo transfer - A tiny drop of culture medium containing one or two embryos is carefully deposited in the uterus using a thin catheter

•Waiting - This ‘two week’ period can feel difficult and frustrating but you should try to live your life as normally as possible

•Outcome - The UK average success rate for an IVF treatment cycle is around 30 per cent

Simply Fertility believes that fertility awareness, diagnosis, and treatment should be easily accessible to all. As such, it has a range of competitive, inclusive, and successful packages available to choose from. For more information or to book an assessment, get in touch with one of Simply Fertility’s friendly and professional team today.