In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a process of assisted reproduction that offers infertile couples a chance to have a baby that is biologically related to them. More than 200,000 babies have been born as a result of using the IVF procedure and it is now a fully established treatment for infertility.
With IVF, a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm are combined by an IVF specialist in a laboratory dish. The resulting embryo is then transferred to the uterus (womb) of the woman to develop naturally. Usually, 2-4 embryos are placed in the uterus each time. Each attempt is referred to as a cycle, with the cost of each cycle being around ten thousands dollars.
The full procedure is as follows:
The woman will be given hormones to induce her ovaries to produce several eggs. A surgeon will then insert a needle into the woman’s ovary to remove the eggs. General anesthesia is not required when the surgeon does this, but the woman is sometimes administered some sedating medication. Whilst that is taking place, the man provides a semen sample. He is asked not to have sex for a few days before the eggs are taken from the woman. The next step is for the sperm to be separated from the semen, which is done through a laboratory procedure.
Following this, the sperm are combined in a laboratory dish with the eggs taken from the woman. About 18 hours after this fertilization procedure, the laboratory dish is examined to determine if any of the eggs have been fertilized and if embryos have grown as a result. If they have, they will be incubated for the next 2-5 days. The doctor then transfers the embryos back to the woman through the cervix with a catheter (a long slender tube). The woman is then given a course of hormones to take for the following 2 weeks. If the implantation works (the egg or eggs attach to the uterine wall and grow), a standard pregnancy test will give a positive result.
Continue : The Cost Of IVF & The IVF Procedure
