What is the IVF process?
Our Utah Fertility Specialists have spent decades perfecting the IVF process helping more than 2000 families bring home the baby they dreamed of. Our step-by-step approach begins with answering your big question: “Is IVF right for me?” Our goal is to ensure that you have all the information you need about your diagnosis and the entire IVF experience, so that you can feel confident in your decision to move forward.
Step 1. Initial visit to start the IVF process
Your first consultation is free, and you will get one-on-one time with the highly trained Utah IVF specialists who will manage every aspect of your fertility care. At this visit, we will discuss your medical history, any prior fertility treatments, and any prior test results you can provide. As the first step in the IVF process, we will order all necessary testing for both partners to establish a baseline measure of your fertility and optimize your IVF cycle, should you decide to proceed.
Step 2. Estimate
With all test results and information in hand, we can provide a sound estimate of your cost of IVF, so you know exactly what to expect. Assistance is available to secure insurance benefits and financing if needed.
Step 3. Cycle start
In some cases, patients begin the IVF process with the counter-intuitive step of taking birth control pills for a few weeks. This allows the ovaries to rest and suppresses ovulation to maximize the impact of the ovarian stimulation medications used in your IVF cycle.
Step 4. Ovarian stimulation and monitoring
During this phase, you will self-inject specific doses of medications at specific times each day, prompting your ovaries to develop multiple egg-containing follicles at the same time. You will return to see our Utah IVF specialists frequently for ultrasound examinations and bloodwork, which allows us to monitor the development of your eggs.
Step 5. Egg retrieval
When your eggs reach peak maturity, you will self-inject a “trigger shot” that prompts your ovaries to prepare the eggs for retrieval. At exactly the right time, you will undergo the egg retrieval procedure, which is performed under light anesthesia. Our fertility specialists will remove the eggs using a long, thin needle inserted through the cervix, which takes only a few minutes. You’ll return home after the procedure and can resume normal activities within a few days, and will begin supplementation with progesterone to prepare your uterus to receive an embryo.
Step 6. Fertilization
Your eggs will be fertilized in our IVF lab using your partner’s sperm, provided by masturbation, typically on the same day as your egg retrieval. In some cases, fertilization is allowed to happen naturally in a petri dish, while others need a little extra help from intracytoplasmic sperm injection. With ICSI, one good quality sperm is chosen to be injected directly into each egg to encourage fertilization.
Step 7. Monitoring
The development of all resulting embryos is closely monitored in our IVF lab over the next few days.
Step 8. Embryo transfer
Our skilled scientific director will select the highest-quality embryo, which will be placed inside a thin catheter and inserted directly into your uterus through the cervix. This quick outpatient procedure allows you to return home the same day and resume your normal activities. Any unused embryos are cryopreserved and stored in our IVF laboratory for future use, and progesterone supplementation continues while you await your pregnancy test.
Step 9. Pregnancy test
About two weeks after your embryo transfer, our Utah IVF specialists will order bloodwork to measure the levels of specific hormones in your body that indicate that a pregnancy is developing. If this test is positive, the IVF process still isn’t quite finished: You will continue progesterone supplementation and monitoring in our office for a few more weeks, then you can transfer to your OBGYN for care, just as you would with any other pregnancy.
Ready to learn more? Contact us to schedule your free initial consultation.