Test tube babies : all about the IVF method

Test tube babies: all about the IVF method

Some women face enormous difficulties when trying to get pregnant. You shouldn’t give up, even if the diagnosis of infertility sounds like a death sentence. When conservative treatment methods do not produce results and the chance of getting pregnant naturally is reduced to a minimum, there is still hope to give birth to a healthy baby with the help of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), namely, with the help of an IVF program.

Test tube baby

Yes, her most cherished dream has finally come true, and soon she will be hugging her dearest little person to her chest. It doesn’t matter how much effort was spent on the path to achieving the most cherished goal, how many sleepless nights were left behind and how many attempts to get pregnant were in vain. And it doesn’t matter at all that the future baby was conceived from a test tube, the main thing is that a baby will soon be born who will be no different from other newborns. And perhaps not alone.

IVF program: what is the point?

My friend still did not give up, did not believe, as it turned out, the deceptive verdict, but found an alternative opportunity to give birth to a baby. She decided to undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) followed by embryo transfer (ET) into the uterus. This means that the child was conceived from a test tube. In some situations, it turns out to be the only way to experience the joy of motherhood. So, the IVF program is intended for women who:

1. there are serious hormonal disorders;
2. there are no fallopian tubes;
3. The causes of infertility are unclear.

Test tube babies develop in the same conditions as babies conceived naturally, that is, in the mother’s womb. And after birth, they develop in the same way as all children. The only difference is that conception occurs outside the mother’s body, and the embryo is transferred into the uterine cavity later. In all other respects, pregnancy and childbirth follow the same scenario as for other expectant mothers.

Important stages of IVF

The procedure for in vitro fertilization followed by implantation of embryos into the uterine cavity consists of three important stages. Which ones?

1. Stimulation of superovulation

In order for an egg to mature in the female body, which will later be fertilized, ovulation stimulation should begin. And since in many women suffering from infertility, ovulation itself does not occur on days 12-16 of the menstrual cycle, it should be stimulated starting from days 2-5 of the cycle and continuing until days 8-12 with the help of special medications that contain follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which is responsible for the maturation of follicles and eggs in the ovaries.

2. Ultrasound observation and oocyte puncture

From the beginning of the period of administration of the FSH hormone, the doctor should monitor the development of follicles, the condition of the uterus and ovaries using ultrasound. And when the size of the follicles reaches certain values, the woman is given an ovulatory dose of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) so that the eggs can be released from the follicles and thus ovulation occurs. After that, the doctor extracts eggs from the mature follicles using a special needle and under ultrasound control. On the same day, the future father must donate sperm, which is then prepared for the fertilization procedure itself.

3. Embryological stage

When the eggs are successfully extracted, they are placed in a special vessel (not a test tube), which is sent to an incubator for several hours, after which they are fertilized with the sperm of the future father obtained on the same day. The sperm and eggs are then carefully mixed and returned to the incubator. And already on days 2-5, the doctor transfers at least 2-3 embryos into the uterine cavity using a thin catheter tube under ultrasound control of the highest quality embryos. The remaining, no less high-quality embryos are frozen in case there is a need for the next attempt