What is in vitro fertilization?
At OC Fertility®, we're dedicated to helping you start or grow your family. We offer in vitro fertilization, or IVF, as a way to help you get pregnant. Our state-of-the-art IVF lab is nationally recognized and allows us to monitor and control every step of the fertility process. We're proud to say that we use IVF to help a wide variety of people get pregnant, and we're committed to providing you with personalized care and support every step of the way. Don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or would like to learn more about our IVF services. We're here to help!
Who gets in vitro fertilization?
In vitro fertilization might be right for you if you:
- Have unsuccessfully tried other fertilization treatments like intrauterine insemination (IUI)
- Have fertility challenges like poor ovarian reserve or impaired sperm
- Are over the age of 40
- Have experienced recurrent pregnancy loss
- Need to preserve your fertility because of cancer or other conditions
- Have damaged, sterilized, or removed fallopian tubes
- Have endometriosis
- Want to perform embryo testing for chromosome screening
- Want to use a donor egg or sperm
- Previously froze your eggs or sperm
- Want to use a surrogate
- Are a same-sex couple interested in Reciprocal IVF
If the traditional path to pregnancy hasn’t worked for you, don’t hesitate to ask OC Fertility® about IVF.
How does IVF work?
In vitro fertilization is a five-step process:
Ovarian stimulation
IVF begins with injecting daily hormone medications to stimulate the ovaries to make multiple eggs instead of the single egg that normally ovulates each month. This therapy does not take away from the future pool of eggs but recruits eggs that would otherwise have dissolved without reaching maturity.
Blood tests and ultrasounds are done to carefully monitor your response. This process of monitoring eggs until maturity usually takes 10-14 days.
When the follicles are ready for egg retrieval, an injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (HcG) or Lupron® is administered to finalize the egg maturity. This time-sensitive injection determines the timing of the procedure to remove the eggs.
If you're considering using a donor egg to conceive, we want you to know that the OC Fertility® team is here to support you every step of the way. When you work with us, the donor will go through the entire process with our team, ensuring that every aspect of the process is carefully monitored and controlled. We understand that using a donor egg can be an emotional and complex decision, and we're committed to providing you with the care, support, and guidance you need to make the best possible choices for you and your family. If you're interested in learning more about using a donor egg, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Egg retrieval
At OC Fertility®, we want you to feel comfortable and cared for throughout the egg retrieval process. That's why one of our skilled doctors will perform the procedure, with the support of an anesthesiologist who will administer anesthesia to ensure your comfort.
Using ultrasound guidance, our doctor will gently drain the follicles and remove the eggs. The eggs are then sent to our state-of-the-art embryology lab for evaluation. During the surgery, our embryologist will carefully identify the eggs from within the follicular fluid using a microscope. We take every precaution to ensure the safety and well-being of our patients and their precious eggs, and we're committed to providing you with the highest quality care and support throughout your fertility journey.
Sperm retrieval
If your partner is contributing sperm, they will provide a semen sample on the day of the egg retrieval. We take great care to ensure that the semen sample is properly collected and stored until it's needed for fertilization.
Alternatively, if you're using previously collected, frozen sperm or donor sperm, we can provide that as well. In either case, your provider will wash the sperm to increase the odds of fertilization. This process removes any unwanted substances and concentrates the healthy sperm, increasing the chances of a successful fertilization
Fertilization
During this step, we introduce the sperm to the egg, either in a culture dish or via intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). After one day, we check to see if the sperm has successfully fertilized the egg.
If you’re interested in preimplantation genetic testing screening (PGT), preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), our OC Fertility® provider will make sure that the appropriate next steps are performed.
Our OC Fertility® team can also freeze any excess healthy embryos for future use.
Embryo transfer
Once the fertilized egg reaches the blastocyst stage—which usually takes five to six days—your OC Fertility® provider can implant the embryo in your uterine lining using ultrasound guidance for the most precision possible.
This procedure can be done in the same cycle as the ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval, or in a subsequent cycle after the embryos have been frozen. Your OC Fertility® doctor will discuss with you whether a fresh or frozen embryo transfer (FET) is the best option for you.
Our team is committed to providing you with the highest quality care and support throughout the IVF process, and we're here to answer any questions you may have.
949-706-BABY
