In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

When you hear people talking about “test tube babies” they mean babies that have been created using IVF. IVF is a treatment for infertility. The woman’s eggs are mixed in a glass dish with the man’s sperm and fertilisation takes place. The fertilised eggs (embryos) are then put back into the woman’s womb, in the hope that they will survive in the womb and grow into a baby.

What does IVF involve?

This is a simple guide to IVF. It explains how IVF is carried out in PRE-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN (i.e. women who are still having regular periods). IVF may be carried out differently in women who have stopped having periods. For more information, please speak to your fertility doctor.

IVF is a complicated process and it is easy to feel confused or intimidated. Staff at the Unit will be more than happy to talk through the process with you and go over any parts that you do not understand. If you are considering having treatment with IVF, please make sure that you read our patient information pack carefully, as it contains more detailed information.

In very simple terms, a single IVF treatment cycle involves:

• "Switching off" your body’s own reproductive hormone production.
• Growing eggs in your ovaries.
• Having the eggs removed from your ovaries.
• Mixing the eggs with sperm in the laboratory.
• Having the fertilised eggs put back in your womb.

This process is carried out via a series of steps:

• STEP 1: SWITCHING OFF YOUR BODY’S NATURAL HORMONE PRODUCTION (known as “downregulation.”)
  • Why is a “mock embryo transfer” carried out before my treatment starts?
• STEP 2: STIMULATION OF FOLLICLE PRODUCTION.
  • How will I be monitored during steps 1 and 2?
• STEP 3: EGG MATURATION
• STEP 4: PREPARING YOUR WOMB TO RECEIVE THE EMBRYOS.
• STEP 5: EGG COLLECTION (also called “ovum retrieval” and “oocyte capture.”)
  • What happens to the eggs and sperm in the laboratory?
• STEP 6: REPLACING THE FERTILISED EGGS (known as “embryo/blastocyst transfer”).
  • Can I have spare embryos/blastocysts frozen and stored?
• STEP 7: PREGNANCY TESTING

Please remember, the information on this website is intended as a rough guide only, to give you an idea of what you can expect during treatment. Any treatment that is carried out will be personalised to you, so it is VITAL that you follow the instructions given to you by staff at the Unit carefully.