What is IVF?
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most advanced and effective treatment for infertility available today. It offers new hope and possibilities for couples who would otherwise be unable to have children. IVF involves stimulating the woman's ovaries with fertility medications to produce many oocytes (eggs) that mature and ripen, at which point they are retrieved while she is under anesthesia, and fertilized with her husband's sperm in the laboratory. This creates embryos which are carefully monitored by an embryologist for 3-5 days, and then one or more are placed into her uterus with the hope that implantation will occur and establish a pregnancy. The pregnancy rates for IVF far exceed those of any other form of fertility treatment.
The decision to proceed with in vitro fertilization can be one of the most important and difficult a couple can make. The amount of information and details involved in an IVF cycle can seem overwhelming, and many questions arise throughout the process. This page of our website is designed to give you a general idea of what to expect, but please remember that each patient will receive an individualized plan to maximize her chances of pregnancy. It is our goal to provide the highest quality in IVF care, including educational tools and emotional support.
While most of the treatments and procedures involve the woman, we encourage the partner to be as much a part of the IVF cycle as possible. The importance of the emotional support of the husband cannot be overemphasized. Daily injections, frequent appointments, ultrasounds and blood tests are required of the woman, in addition to the egg retrieval and embryo transfer. Therefore, we encourage the partner to administer the injections and attend appointments whenever possible. IVF is an exciting commitment that couples make to each other as they work together to fulfill their dreams of having a baby.
