The duration of a complete IVF treatment is approximately 4-5 weeks (one ovarian cycle). During this period you will have to go to the clinic about 5-6 times to explain the medication you should administer, have ultrasounds and blood tests, perform oocyte retrieval and embryo transfer, and finally take a blood pregnancy test. to confirm pregnancy and IVF success.
During the entire duration of an IVF Treatment Pakistan you will have a patient assistant who will answer any questions you may have.
Ovarian stimulation
IVF treatment begins with ovarian stimulation. On the first day of your period, you should call your patient assistant who will inform you of the exact day you should start ovarian stimulation medication. The ovaries are stimulated by administering a dose of gonadotropin hormones (FSH and/or LH) that stimulate and develop the ovarian follicles to obtain an adequate number of oocytes.
This dose and its duration are individually adjusted according to your ovarian reserve. If you have any questions about how to give yourself your hormone injections or any concerns about dosing, you will have a patient assistant available at any time. While taking the medications, you should go to the assisted reproduction clinic every 2 or 3 days to perform vaginal ultrasounds and observe the growth of the follicles. In some cases, a blood test will also be performed to measure levels of estradiol, a hormone produced by the ovary. Through this monitoring, the medication can be adjusted to obtain better results.
Preparation of sperm
On the same day as the oocyte retrieval, a semen sample from your partner will be prepared. In cases where you do not have a male partner or your partner has serious alterations in seminal quality, semen from an anonymous donor will be used.
This semen sample is selected in the laboratory using washing techniques, where those sperm with greater mobility will be chosen. This phase is known as seminal training.
Insemination
The biomedical team will decide, depending on the patient’s history and characteristics, which insemination technique (conventional IVF or ICSI) is the most appropriate.
Through conventional IVF treatment in Pakistan Lahore, the recovered oocytes and the trained sperm are brought into contact in a laboratory dish and it is hoped that one of them will be able to fertilize the oocyte autonomously.
Through ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm microinjection), the embryologist will introduce a sperm selected from the semen sample inside each oocyte with the help of a micromanipulator and a microneedle, directly in the laboratory.
The next day, about 18 hours later, the result of fertilization will be observed. We will then know how many of the oocytes have been fertilized normally.
Monitoring of embryos
Those oocytes that have been fertilized correctly will be kept in the laboratory for observation for several days. Day by day it will be observed how the embryos divide and their number of cells increases. Data will also be taken on the morphology and quality of each embryo.
This phase of IVF lasts 2 to 5 days. Embryos that have the appropriate morphological characteristics will be those that are transferred to the mother’s uterus. The leftover embryos of optimal quality will be cryopreserved for future use. After that observation time, you will be given an appointment for the embryo transfer.
Embryo transfer
The selected embryos will be transferred to the uterus. To do this, the gynecologist will use a small catheter and, guided by an abdominal ultrasound, will take the embryos through the cervix until they are deposited in the uterus. To facilitate embryo implantation, progesterone is usually administered vaginally.
The embryo transfer procedure lasts a few minutes and does not require sedation. The patient’s recovery time is minimal and you can return to your usual routine immediately.
The pregnancy test
The pregnancy test will be done through a blood test 13-14 days after oocyte retrieval. That same day they will inform you of the result of the pregnancy test. If the result is positive, you will be scheduled 2-3 weeks later to perform an ultrasound to confirm the progress of the initial pregnancy.
