IVF is the most advanced form of fertility treatment and stands for In Vitro Fertilisation. Translated, it means fertilisation “in glass”, referring to the fact that in IVF, the two reproductive cells, sperm and egg, are brought together outside of the body. Fertilisation of the egg by the sperm produces the earliest stage of pregnancy, known as an embryo, which is then placed into the cavity of the womb.
IVF involves the following steps: (1) Ovarian stimulation to produce multiple eggs; (2) Removal of these eggs from the body via a transvaginal ultrasound-guided Egg Pickup (EPU); (3) Sperm production and preparation in the lab; (4) Bringing the eggs and sperm together in the lab to enable fertilisation to occur to produce embryos; (5) Culture of these embryos in the lab for 2-6 days, and; (6) The replacement of an embryo into the womb via Embryo Transfer (ET).
