During an IVF procedure the woman is injected
with hormones in order to produce multiple eggs during each cycle. She also
receives injections of medication that ripens the developing eggs and starts
the ovulation process. Ultrasound and blood tests are carried out to determine
the right time for egg retrieval, which is just before the egg emerges from the
follicles in the ovaries. Retrieving the eggs too early or too late will
prevent them from developing normally.
Women are provided with instructions to follow the night before and the
day of the procedure, and some of them are provided with pain medication. They
also have a choice of full anesthesia or being mildly sedated.
During the retrieval of the eggs
procedure—which varies from less than 30 minutes up to an hour—the doctor will
locate follicles in the ovary with ultrasound and use a hollow needle to remove
the eggs.
Right after retrieval of the eggs, they will
be mixed with the partner’s sperm in the lab. The sperm must have been donated
on that same day.
After this procedure, the couple goes home
while the fertilized eggs remain under observation in the lab.
