In Vitro Fertilization Explained

In vitro is a Latin phrase that literally means “in glass.” As logic would suggest, in vitro fertilization is the fertilizing of a female egg by male sperm that happens in glass, most often in something similar to a petri dish. While that is a simple explanation of how IVF works, there is really a lot more that goes into just one treatment than fertilizing an egg in a glass dish.

The process of achieving a successful pregnancy through IVF is typically a long, arduous process that may not even work the first, second, or third time you try. The success of this and other fertility treatments is not guaranteed, so patience is a big part of achieving a pregnancy through fertility treatments such as IVF.

What to Expect When Undergoing IVF

To correctly and completely elaborate on all of the important aspects of in vitro fertilization you will need to understand the following 5 steps. But before we get into the actual process of IVF, we must first explain how you decide that IVF is a necessary step in you becoming pregnant. The way this happens is by visiting your fertility clinic and having your doctor perform a diagnostic test. Diagnostic test is a fancy way of saying that the doctor is going to examine the entirety of your reproductive system in order to see if he or she is able to locate the reason why you are unable to become pregnant naturally. Once the doctor discovers what is preventing you from conceiving a healthy child he or she will then decide whether IVF or another type of fertility treatment would be your best option.



Part 1: Your fertility clinic doctor will prescribe you certain medications in order to make your body as fertile as possible in the lead up to your treatment. The drugs you will be given can do anything from forcing you to ovulate or simply provide your body with hormones that are essential in order to facilitate and maintain a successful and healthy pregnancy. More often than not these drugs will force a female’s body to produce a surplus of eggs as to give the doctors the chance to pick the best egg and even save some of the residual ones for further treatment or even donation.

The more eggs a doctor is able to collect, the higher the likelihood of a successful pregnancy through IVF is. Doctors will be able to separate bad eggs from good ones by using an ultrasound monitor to check up on their development and formation.

Part 2: Once a female’s eggs have developed fully they are then able to be retrieved by way of a minor surgery. This surgery requires a doctor to take a hollowed out needle and place it directly into the woman’s pelvic cavity. The hollow needle literally sucks the eggs out of the woman and this whole process goes by the name of follicle aspiration. Depending on the doctor and clinic you will either be given local anesthesia or be completely sedated in order to avoid you feeling too much pain and/or discomfort.

Part3: This is one of the few steps in the IVF process that places the emphasis on the male partner. All that a male needs to do in order to contribute to the IVF treatment is to produce a sperm sample that is large enough and healthy enough to appropriately fertilize the eggs that have been retrieved.

Part 4: Starting at this point the doctors take over the rest of the IVF procedure. The eggs and sperm are put into incubators in a lab in order to be prepared to be fertilized. If doctors think that the fertilization process will be unsuccessful, they may immediately defer to pursuing a process called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). This procedure is a small derivative of IVF and instead of using an entire sample of sperm to fertilize the egg, a doctor simply takes one single sperm and injects it into the egg directly. If fertilization of the eggs is considered a success, then the doctors are now dealing with what are called embryos.

Part 5: The final stage of the IVF process means that the fertilized embryos must be placed into the woman’s uterus no more than a week after they were fertilized. It isn’t always just one embryo that is placed back into the woman, depending on the doctor and clinic as many as 2 or 3 embryos could be put into the woman. Once again an ultrasound is used to ensure that the whole process is going smoothly. Unlike the retrieval of the eggs, the replacement of the embryos is typically painless and requires little to no pain killers. After this stage is completed a normal pregnancy will ideally ensue.

Success with IVF

Like stated above, the success of an IVF treatment is determined by a variety of different factors including health and age. The older a woman is, the less likely it is that a treatment of IVF will end up yielding a healthy child or children. With that being said there are instances of women who are over the age of 60 still being able to produce a healthy child.

When a doctor is performing diagnostic tests before IVF he or she will be examining a bunch of different aspects of your reproductive health. If you are suffering from a very serious reproductive deficiency then it is likely that an IVF treatment will not be successful.

Another big determining factor in whether or not an IVF treatment will end in a pregnancy is the clinic which you choose to go to. Many couples are under the impression that every fertility clinic is the same when nothing could be further from the truth. Reputable fertility clinics are typically considered to be reputable because they are known for producing high success rates with their fertility treatments. By choosing a fertility clinic that is known to turn infertile women into happy mothers you are making a choice that could mean the difference between having a child or not.

An Introduction to Fertility Drugs

Fertility drugs can play a vital role in whether or not you become pregnant. Different drugs stimulate different parts of the body and with the proper usage these drugs can mean the difference between a couple with a child and couple without one. But before you even think about using any type of fertility drugs it is imperative that you know all there is to know about the drugs.
Below we will briefly analyze and describe the major facets of different fertility drugs and how they may or may not help you.

Uses For Fertility Drugs

Fertility drugs can be used for a number of different reasons and in a number of different fashions. Typically, when dealing with fertility issues, a couple will be subjected to fertility drugs as a first option in hoping that the drugs alone will solve any and all fertility problems that exist. If the drugs themselves do not do the trick, your doctor will likely suggest a treatment that will more aggressively and effectively handle whatever fertility problem you are dealing with.

The fact of the matter is that with most treatments there are fertility drugs that can help the treatment succeed. So while you may be taking fertility drugs by themselves, they are typically more effective when used in conjunction with a treatment.

A common misconception is that fertility drugs are only able to be utilized by women, but the reality is that there are plenty of drugs out there for men too. Finding the fertility drugs that are going to be most beneficial to you is the hardest part about making use of fertility drugs.

Clomiphene

The first fertility drug worth mentioning goes by the name of Clomiphene. This drug is used in women who are having a difficult time ovulating. Clomiphene is designed to release hormones into the body of a female that will make the ovulation process happen, or make it happen successfully.

When being administered Clomiphene it is important to note that this isn’t a drug that you use only once or twice in order for it to work. Rather, Clomiphene is a fertility drug that will be prescribed for periods ranging from just a couple months all the way up to half of a year. During that time you will be taking your medication at least 5 times a week in order to see the best results from your usage of Clomiphene.

The glory of Clomiphene is that even if the drug does not work or yield any positive results on the first go around, it can be used multiple times without any issues. Women who are not ovulating are the first to be given Clomiphene because the hormones in the drug force your body to ovulate. Clomiphene forces ovulation about 3/4s of the time when it is used in women who are otherwise unable to ovulate.
Clomid and Serophene are two brand name versions of the generic Clomiphene.

FSH-Follicle Stimulating Hormone

Follicle stimulating hormones are a type of fertility drug that is most commonly administered by injection. The reason that is mentioned first is because if you have a fear of needles FSH is not going to be the drug for you.
FSH injections provide the body with a hormone that is supposed to be produced in the pituitary gland. If the pituitary gland is not producing enough of this hormone, any chances of a successful pregnancy happen are significantly hindered. For women, the use of FSH can mean the difference between eggs that will be able to facilitate a pregnancy and eggs that are more or less useless.
FSH is used in men to help raise their sperm count. Other than that, most couples who receive IVF treatment may also be given a dosage or dosages of FSH in order to improve the chances of your treatment being successful.
Some name brand types of FSH include Bravelle, Follistim, and Gonal-F.

Gonadotropin

Gonadotropin is issued through a series of injections in order to help males produce and acceptable amount of sperm and to help females produce a healthy quantity of healthy eggs.
When a woman is given gonadotropin, the main goal is to improve the levels of estrogen that she has in her body. If Clomiphene proves to be ineffective for a female patient, then Gonadotropin is the most commonly accepted drug to turn to. Gonadotropin is also used in women when they are about to undergo an IUI procedure.

Unlike Clomiphene, Gonadotropin is able to be used by both men and women, giving it a level of versatility that most other drugs simply cannot offer. There are different kinds of Gonadotropin each used for their own specific purpose. For example, Human Menopausal Gonadotropin is used to help women who barely ovulate or don’t ovulate at all. This type of injected drug goes straight to the ovaries and gives the body no choice but to ovulate in most cases. Another type of Gonadotropin that exists goes by the name of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and is used to help women produce healthy eggs and to help men produce a healthy supply of sperm.

Some name brand versions of Gonadotropin include Novarel, Pregnyl, Profasl, Menopur, and Menogon. These are just a few of the many brand names that exist.

Buying Fertility Drugs

Fertility drugs are useful for infertile couples of all walks of life. Whether you are using fertility drugs as a means of supplementing your fertility treatment or are just using them to improve your overall fertility, they have innumerable benefits.

When looking to purchase fertility drugs there are a few different ways you can do this. The first and most obvious choice would be to visit your local fertility clinic and have a doctor examine you. Once he or she assesses your fertility, they will be able to provide you with information regarding what type of fertility drug will help you best. On the other hand, you can bypass seeing a doctor and go straight to online pharmacies that sell these and other drugs. While online pharmacies can be convenient, it is always suggested that you consult your local fertility clinic before making fertility drug purchases on your own.
The world of fertility drugs is a confusing one, but with a little bit of research you will be able to make informed decisions about what type of drugs are best for you in no time at all.

Finding Fertility Treatments - What Are My Options?

The world of fertility treatments is growing more and more with each passing week, month, and year. With more advanced treatments being discovered all the time, the successful pregnancies that are yielded from new-age treatments have been growing in number consistently. But finding the treatment that will be of supreme benefit to you is a bit harder to do than most people think. The best way to make an accurate decision about what type of treatment to pursue is to educate yourself on all of your options. Education is key because there are a number of different treatments, many of which have strikingly similar qualities and procedures. Listed below are all of the most relevant procedures as well as a little bit of information about how they work and what they look to help fix or cure. Aside from these treatment options you should also consider fertility drugs, a topic we touch on in a newer article on this blog.

IUI Treatment

IUI, which stands for intrauterine insemination, is one of the more popular treatments to remedy trouble with conception and it works fairly easily. The process begins by collecting a sample of sperm from a male partner or sperm from a donor. Once the sperm is collected it is prepared and washed so that it can be directly placed into the cervix of the female partner. Once the sperm is placed into the woman’s cervix correctly, the sperm fertilizes her eggs and ideally a healthy pregnancy will ensue. A couple may need to pursue IUI (also known as AI in some circles) because the male partner is non-existent or is simply unable to naturally fertilize his partner’s eggs. Your doctor will be able to give you much more insight as to why IUI may or may not be the right treatment option for you and your partner.

IVF Treatment

In vitro fertilization, more commonly referred to as IVF Treatment, is one of the few treatments that couples are aware of prior to receiving any type of treatment. The reason most people and couples know about IVF treatment is because it is arguably the most widely used and most successful treatment in existence. To put it simply, the process of IVF involves retrieving both a female egg and male sperm and then proceeding to fertilize the egg with the sperm outside the body. Once the egg is fertilized it is then placed back inside the woman in hopes that a normal, healthy pregnancy will ensue. IVF is utilized by couples for a wide variety of reasons which include reproductive issues with the male partner, the female partner, or both. Also, in the case where a woman is using donor sperm, or a male is using donor eggs, IVF is often the go-to fertility treatment; mainly because it has success rates that dwarf those of most other treatments.

 

ICSI Treatment

ICSI treatment is mentioned directly after IVF because it is so very similar to in vitro fertilization. ICSI is known in the medical community by the name intracytoplasmic sperm injection and it involves injecting one single sperm inside an egg in order to induce fertilization. This process is different than IVF because the doctors are using only one single sperm to attempt to provide a successful pregnancy as opposed to a whole batch of semen that would be used in IVF. The reason many couples are forced to turn to ICSI is because the woman’s eggs are not able to be penetrated by the sperm naturally. Another reason a couple may turn to ICSI is when there is an abnormality in the shape of a male’s sperm. The shape and build of sperm is crucial in the fertilization process because without proper shape, the sperm may not be able to move around as freely as it should.

Assisted Hatching Treatment

Assisted hatching is a treatment that mainly caters to women who are advanced in age and may otherwise have no hope when it comes to becoming pregnant. As you are probably aware by now, the time is never on your side when trying to become pregnant. As we age our bodies naturally decline in fertility until one day you are no longer fertile at all. The process of Assisted Hatching involves removing some of the outer layers of the embryo in order to literally help the embryo hatch.

ZIFT Treatment

ZIFT is another type of treatment that most definitely needs to be mentioned in the same breath as IVF treatment. The reason is because ZIFT is yet another type of treatment that is a derivative of IVF. The ZIFT procedure takes an embryo that the doctors are sure is fertilized and places it directly into the female partner’s fallopian tubes. This procedure has a high rate of success simply because the doctors are able to tell whether the embryo has been fertilized or not before they place it in the fallopian tubes. If it is discovered that the embryo has not been fertilized correctly, doctors are able to stop the process and start it over again before wasting too much time.

GIFT Treatment

As logic would suggest, GIFT and ZIFT live in the same neighborhood of treatments. Like ZIFT, GIFT is also very closely related to IVF and is a newer procedure that has shown a lot of positive results. GIFT gives the woman a chance to have her eggs be fertilized while remaining inside of her body, unlike IVF where the eggs must be removed before the process begins. Women choose a GIFT treatment because it is as close to a natural pregnancy that you are able to get because the eggs are being fertilized within your body. The health of your eggs will be monitored closely by ultrasound the entire time and doctors will be able to see firsthand how things are coming along. Unlike an IVF treatment, patients receiving GIFT will be able to be treated and go home all in the same day; a luxury that most other treatments do not provide. This may seem like a lot of information about treatments to take in, but you have to realize that this is just scratching the surface. More and more remedies are being discovered and improvements are being levied upon the treatments that have been around for quite some time. To put it simply, the expanding world of treatments that remedy fertility issues means that there are more and more options able to be delivered to couples who, in the past, would feel like there were no more options.