IVF Treatment

What is in vitro fertilisation (IVF)?

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process where sperm fertilises the eggs in the laboratory (rather than in the woman’s fallopian tube). This involves:

1. Placing the egg from the woman together with many thousands of sperm (typically 100,000).
2. The fertilised embryos grow in the laboratory over five days (blastocyst stage) before being transferred into the woman’s uterus in a simple procedure called embryo transfer.
3. The embryo transfer process involves passing a very fine tube containing the embryo through the cervix and into the uterine cavity. Usually one embryo at a time is transferred with additional embryos stored by freezing for use in subsequent treatments.