Assisted reproductive technologies have become more and more popular nowadays. Among them, one of the most popular treatment procedures is in vitro fertilization. The procedure involves retrieval of an egg from the mother’s or donor’s ovaries and fertilized with the sperm in the lab that is in vitro. This fertilized egg is called the embryo. The embryo is then transferred into a uterus. Thailand has one of the best fertility treatment centres that provide top-class treatment to couples having infertility issues. Now, if you are planning to get IVF done, then get to know the fertility treatment stages in detail.
Preparation
The first and foremost step of IVF is the preparation. The prep stage starts about 2 to 4 weeks before the IVF cycle begins. It is nothing much but just making small lifestyle changes to make your body and mind healthy. The doctor will suggest you some medications to make your menstrual cycle regular. This will help in continuing other steps of IVF easier.
Stage 1
The first day of your period is stage 1 that is closest to the scheduled IVF treatment. The first stage takes just a day. The doctor will make a thorough analysis and suggest medications.
Stage 2
Stage 2 takes around 3 to 12 days. This stage is called the stimulation phase. During a normal menstrual cycle, your ovaries will produce just one egg. The doctor will give you medication and hormonal injections to change this and make your ovary produce multiple eggs. The number of shots will differ based on your body. The nurse will instruct clearly how to take the injection and where to take it. The medication will contain hormones like follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and progesterone. These medications are given for various functions like ovarian stimulation, oocyte maturation and to prevent premature ovulation.
Stage 3
In stage three you will be administered with an injection of the “pregnancy hormone” or as it’s also known human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). This hormone stimulates the release of an egg by the follicles of the ovary. Exactly after 36 hours of injection, you’ll be at the fertility hospital where the doctor will retrieve your eggs from your ovary
The egg is harvested using the procedure called ultrasound aspiration. A probe is inserted into your vagina to find the healthy and mature follicles. Then a thin needle is passed into an ultrasound guide to go pass the vagina and into the follicles to harvest the eggs. You might feel like you have got cramps after the removal of eggs. The mature egg is placed inside nutritive medium and incubated. This procedure takes around 20 to 30 minutes. This stage is called egg retrieval.
Stage 4
This stage involves the collection of sperm. Two methods are used normally to collect the sperms. One is masturbation on the morning of egg retrieval while the other method is testicle aspiration.
Stage 5
This stage takes place for a day that too in two parts. The first is fertilization and the next part is making the womb ready for implantation. Fertilization to form an embryo can be done in two ways:
- Conventional Insemination: the healthy sperm and eggs are mixed together in the nutritive media and kept for overnight incubation
- Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection: healthy sperm directly injected into a mature egg. This is done when the quality and number of sperm is not optimal
After fertilization, the mother will be given a progesterone injection to make the womb for a healthy pregnancy.
Stage 6
Within a week after the eggs were retrieved, the embryos that are healthy will be transferred to your womb.
Stage 7
9 to 12 days after the retrieval of eggs, you will visit the best fertility treatment clinics in Bangkok and your doctor will scan you and tell whether the process is a success or not.
Bottom line
Bangkok is one of the finest places for undergoing fertility treatments. They have the best professionals and also the fertility treatment cost in Bangkok won’t take a toll on your budget.
