Learn More About In-Vitro Fertilization, the Types Available, What to Expect During the Treatment, and What Happens After Fertilization
Infertility is one of the leading causes of stress and depression for young couples because they cannot conceive naturally, thus lowering their self-esteem because of not meeting the community’s expectations. However, you do not have to keep battling with infertility because there are some treatments like in-vitro fertilization, which provides you an opportunity to achieve pregnancy irrespective of fertility problems. It is for this reason that New York City IVF is offered by a team of specialists who provide customized care designed to overcome fertility roadblocks and enable you to reach your dream of holding your child in your arms.
What is IVF?
IVF is an abbreviation that stands for in-vitro fertilization, a safe and effective assisted reproductive technique that increases your success and chances of achieving pregnancy, especially if you have some infertility concerns. The major goal of IVF is to fuse the egg and the sperm outside the body to form an embryo and implant this embryo into the uterus. There are several types of IVF procedures offered, including:
- Conventional IVF
During conventional IVF treatment, it involves an initial treatment with daily injectable medication to help trigger the production of more ovum for retrieval.
- Natural IVF and mini IVF
Natural and mini IFV procedures need no or little medication before your ova are retrieved for fertilization, thus allowing the specialist to extract the best quality ova.
- Needle-free IVF
It is a procedure that uses nasal and oral medications to stimulate ovum production. Similarly, testing of all hormones is also done through urine and saliva samples. The health care team also offers advanced treatments, including preimplantation genetic testing, assisted hatching, and blastocyst transfer or gender selection procedures.
What can you expect during IVF treatments?
Generally, IVF treatment usually involves few steps before the fertilization process. The health care team begins by providing you with the necessary medications you need to stimulate ovulation before they harvest the eggs. Egg harvesting or retrieval is a minimally invasive and in-office procedure during which the specialist usually extracts about twenty eggs. You can use your previously donated or frozen eggs for your IVF treatment as well. The sperm, on the other hand, normally come from your donor or male partner and the health care team prepares the sample by separating the semen from the seminal fluid. After the egg and the sperm are ready for fertilization, the specialist uses a micro-thin pipette to inject only one sperm into the egg.
What happens after fertilization?
A few hours after fertilization, the embryologist carefully monitors the eggs under a microscope to successfully ensure the sperm penetrates the egg. Therefore, the embryo formed can either be allowed to continue dividing or frozen in preparation for implantation into the uterus. Similarly, other additional options are available during the cell division process depending on your needs, especially assisted hatching. Assisted hatching involves breaking the embryo’s outer layer, enabling it to attach to the endometrial lining during implantation. But in other instances, the fertilized egg can be allowed to continue dividing for six days to advance to blastocyst or advanced embryo stage. The health care team discusses with you concerning your specific procedure before IVF treatment to have an idea of what to expect during the procedure.
Therefore, if you are interested in learning more about IVF treatment, call or visit New York Fertility Institute today.