The IVF process, step by step

Before treatment starts

Before any medication begins, both partners usually go through blood tests, infectious disease screening, and sometimes a hysteroscopy or sperm analysis. This stage can take weeks depending on how quickly appointments and results come through, so it's worth asking your clinic for a rough timeline early on.

Step 1: Down-regulation or a baseline scan

Depending on the protocol, you may start with a period of down-regulation, medication that quietens your natural hormone cycle before stimulation begins, or you may go straight into stimulation from the start of your period after a baseline scan confirms your ovaries are quiet.

Step 2: Ovarian stimulation

Daily injections, usually self-administered at home, encourage multiple follicles to grow. This stage lasts roughly 8 to 14 days and involves several clinic visits for blood tests and ultrasound scans so the dose can be adjusted if needed.

Step 3: The trigger injection

Once follicles reach the right size, a trigger injection is given at a precisely timed point, usually around 36 hours before egg retrieval, to bring the eggs to final maturity.

Step 4: Egg retrieval

A short procedure, usually under sedation, collects the eggs using a needle passed through the vaginal wall under ultrasound guidance. Most people go home the same day and rest for the remainder of it.

Step 5: Fertilisation

On the day of retrieval, the eggs are fertilised, either by mixing them with prepared sperm or through ICSI. The embryology team checks the following morning to see how many have fertilised normally.

Step 6: Embryo culture

Fertilised eggs are grown in the lab for three to six days. The clinic monitors development and will usually call with an update, particularly if you're deciding between a day 3 or day 5 transfer.

It's common for the number of embryos to drop at each stage, from eggs collected, to eggs fertilised, to embryos still developing well by day five. This is a normal part of the process and not something most patients can influence.

Step 7: Embryo transfer

One embryo is placed into the womb using a thin catheter passed through the cervix, guided by ultrasound. This is usually done without sedation and takes only a few minutes, though a full bladder is often needed for the scan.

8. Adım: İki haftalık bekleme süresi

Transferden sonra, genellikle 10 ila 14 gün sonrası için kan veya evde gebelik testi tarihi verilir. Kliniğiniz, kendi talimatlarına uyarak bu süre zarfında progesteron desteği de reçete edebilir.

Zaman çizelgesini neler değiştirebilir?

• Kliniğinizin taze veya dondurulmuş embriyo transferi önermesi.
• PGT-A gibi ek testlerin kullanılıp kullanılmaması, bu genellikle sonuçlar gelene kadar tüm embriyoların dondurulması anlamına gelir.
• Yumurtalıklarınızın stimülasyona nasıl tepki verdiği, bu da daha uzun veya daha kısa bir stimülasyon aşamasına yol açabilir.
• Bir siklusun iptal edilip ayarlanmış bir protokol ile yeniden başlatılması gerekip gerekmediği.