In-vitro Fertilization (IVF)

IVF is a process by which eggs are recovered from the ovary , fertilized in the laboratory and transferred into the uterus 3 - 5 days later as cleaving embryos or blastocysts.

Ovulation induction was performed to stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs for IVF in order to increase the chance of conception. Once more than three follicles have ripened , the female partner will be given an injection of hCG which will trigger the final maturation process of the eggs. The egg recovery will be performed 36 hours after hCG administration and on that day the husband will be required to produce semen samples. The eggs are recovered from the follicles using ultrasound- guided technique. The oocytes are carefully identified and washed before being placed in incubator. After a period of time , usually 3 - 4 hours, they are inseminated with the specially prepared sperm. The oocytes and sperm are cultured together and inspected on the following day to see if fertilization has occurred. The first signs of fertilization , are shown by the presence of two small dots within the egg , the pronuclei. If this has occurred , the zygote ( a fertilized egg ) may then divided into two , four or more - cell embryo.

When the eggs have fertilized and cleaved , no more than three embryos will be transferred into the women on day 3 or day 5 after egg collection. Husbands are encouraged to accompany their wives during this special time , but only they wish to do so. The couple will be shown the embryos before the transfer takes place and the embryos' picture will also be given. If there are more than three good quality embryos , the extra embryos can be frozen for future attempts.

In reality, there are a number of factors that have to be taken into consideration to analyze the success or the failure of any IVF treatment. Possible reasons why a particular cycle treatment may fail include:

• Patient’s age
• Sperm and egg quality
• Failure to collect eggs
• Failure of implantation of the embryos

On an average, there is a 20% to 30% success rate associated with IVF.

In general women above 40 find it a little more difficult to conceive using IVF as the ovulation rate as well as quality of eggs decreases with age. Those who have had a normal delivery before or successful IVF births earlier have a greater chance of getting pregnant the second time over.

The IVF centre where the treatment is done also influences the success rate. Factors like size of the clinic, technical expertise of the team, type of equipments used, protocols for ovary stimulation, and transferring of embryos play an important role in inferring the overall success rate. At Bangkok IVF center we have an above average success rate since our inception in 2003. You may check our Statistics here.