You have chosen this incredible medical procedure journey – IVF or In Vitro Fertilization. With the medium of advanced imaging technology, understanding and easily viewing what happens inside a human body has proved to be a great benefit for couples who are working very hard to have their own child. 

Called the IVF process, it works in a controlled environment, enhancing the opportunity to fertilize eggs. Best IVF centres in Hyderabad, sperm and egg are combined and monitored in a laboratory pot – incubated for a span of 3-5 days for fertilization. 

Must Read: Everything you need to know before you do IVF

Fertilized eggs develop into embryos. After careful examination, the embryo is considered for transfer, freezing, culturing and development.

Let’s understand the IVF process.

For you as a woman, the IVF process starts weeks earlier as IVF is not a single-sit treatment, but comes as a series of procedures.

It is stated that an average IVF cycle takes anywhere between 6 to 8 weeks from the point of consultation to transfer, and depending on the required circumstances, each phase is similar to every patient.

The only difference is how your body responds to each phase. 

Dr.Padmaja, a reputed and highly experienced fertility specialist in Hyderabad, explains Fertility IVF process.

Phase I – First visit and consultation

After making a decision to check with an IVF Fertility specialist, consult your doctor on your first visit and explain your efforts briefly on how long you have been planning for your child, an overview about your health and your spouse’s health as well. 

After multiple sessions of discussions that go with questions, answers and discussions, the next process begins. 

Initial :

In the first meeting, the clinic will obtain your medical history of you and your partner. Be open and feel comfortable in sharing the required input.

Clinical appointment:

 In this round of meeting, IVF specialists will review and diagnose all the details of your treatment plan and here you learn more about self-administering the medications used in IVF cycle and schedule key procedures.

Finance investment:

As the IVF process is an expensive treatment, financial counseling and advice is very important and it helps in minimizing stress. At this point, you can review your opinions for insurance coverage. Among the options available, you can also opt for IVF financing.

Phase II – Preparation

Prior to the treatment, understanding IVF process and information fertility IVF process is definitely necessary. This information not only inspires you and keeps you informed about the entire process of IVF, you can watch the development and changes happening in your body.

Lab tests provide a clear picture of your fertility so that fertility doctors can assess and examine your IVF protocol. Common pre-IVF tests include:

• Blood panel
• Ultrasounds
• Infectious disease screening
• Uterine evaluation
• Sperm analysis and male fertility testing

Regulate your menstrual cycle and prepare your ovaries. You are also advised to take birth control pills for 2 to 4 weeks after testing and diagnosis, depending on the length of your cycle. 

Phase III – Medication and monitoring

IVF centres in Hyderabad take up the next phase of IVF process by beginning the process known as Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation (COH).  Here you receive an ultrasound test to evaluate the uterus and ovaries.

As you receive clear reports, the COH process begins in two major parts.

Best IVF centres in Hyderabad firstly do the first part in two weeks. This includes intake of fertility medications – oral medication like Clomid and/or injectable follicle stimulation hormones (Follistim and Gonal-F) stimulate the follicles in your ovaries to mature more eggs than they generally take in a normal cycle. 

The goal is to produce nearly 4 eggs with the use of fertility medication. 

During the fertility IVF process, monitoring visits require both ultrasound and blood tests and at this time, it is crucial to keep a close attention on the development of your follicles and eggs. 

This is the most important and time-consuming part of the IVF process that require 5-7 visits to the clinic.

Phase IV – Fertilization

After 10-12 days of fertility medication, you notice that your follicles have grown to a good size and this is the time for final maturation of eggs with HCG and then schedule the ultrasound egg retrieval 36 hrs later. 

• Egg retrieval : This is a day procedure performed in the clinic under anesthesia. This is a day procedure with a minimum risk. Your partner’s specimen is also collected on the same day as your egg retrieval or the sperm could be frozen earlier.

• Egg and sperm mixed  in the lab: In this step, fertilization occurs and embryos are created. There are many options available at this to improve the scope of successful pregnancy.
• Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is also a good option wherein for male infertility,  a single healthy sperm is injected directly into an egg. 
• Within 3-6 days after fertilization, embryos are evaluated. Everyday monitoring helps experts to check and decide which embryos offer the best chance of transfer and IVF Lab produces daily reports to keep you informed about their progress. 
• After 3 days of fertilization, embryos are transferred, but some patients consider waiting until they reach the blastocyst stage which occurs after 5 days of fertilization. 
• The embryo or blastocyst is placed into the uterus via a thin, flexible plastic tube, which is carefully passed through the opening in the cervix leading to the uterus interior.  During this process, you don’t need any sedation. This procedure is painless and you can watch the transfer as it happens with ultrasound technology.

Conclusion

At Dr.Padmaja IVF, you receive excellent care pre and post treatment. Dr. Padmaja is an experienced IVF specialist with a successful record and she continues to provide excellent IVF services in Hyderabad.