How to become Pregnant

IN VITRO FERTILISATION (IVF)

IVF literally means fertilisation outside of the body. The technique was pioneered through the 1970’s by Patrick Steptoe and Professor Robert Edwards. Since the birth of Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby in 1978, IVF has resulted in over 1.5 million babies worldwide. Pregnancy rates and live birth rates have improved over the past few years, leading to a steady increase in the number of IVF treatment cycles performed worldwide.

There are several groups to whom IVF treatment may be advised that include:

• Women with blocked or damaged Fallopian tubes, inoperable tubes or whose tubes have been removed after ectopic pregnancies.
• Women with endometriosis.
• Women with ovarian disorders.
• Men with infertility problems.
• Couples with unexplained infertility.

Steps of IVF

IVF essentially involves four main steps.

1. Ovarian stimulation: The woman is given fertility medications to stimulate her ovaries to produce many follicles; the small fluid filled structures, which develop in the ovary. Each follicle should contain one egg. The chances of pregnancy are increased if more than one egg can be obtained and fertilised.
During this phase the development of the follicles is monitored using blood tests and by visualizing the ovary by ultrasound.
2. Egg retrieval: The eggs are collected from the follicles using the vaginal ultrasound probe with an attached guided aspiration needle under sedation/local anaesthetic.
3. Insemination: On the morning of the egg-collection, the man produces a sperm sample by masturbation. The best sperm are then selected using a sperm wash technique and each egg is inseminated with prepared sperm. The eggs are inspected for signs of fertilisation the next morning.
4. Embryo Transfer: Embryos are placed into the uterus using a small catheter. This is usually performed 3 days after egg retrieval.


N.B. If an excess of embryos are present on the day of embryo transfer these can be frozen to be used at a later stage. About 30% of couples have embryos remaining to freeze. (See section on FET)