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For people with fertility challenges or the need for medical assistance to create children, IVF (in vitro fertilization) can be an option. Since IVF is the medical procedure of fertilizing an egg with sperm outside of a person’s body and then implanting the resulting embroyo(s) into a uterus, you will need to find an IVF doctor or clinic. You may also have to try more than one round, due to IVF failing.
What does the IVF process look like?
Very generally speaking, the process of IVF looks like the following.
Overstimulate egg production
To increase the odds of successful fertilization later, doctors will need more than the typical single egg released during ovulation. You will need to take medication (usually via injections) for 8 to 14 days and also be monitored regularly (usually through transvaginal ultrasounds and blood tests) to check on your ovaries and hormone levels.
Be aware that the hormones may also affect your mood. “It just made me so irritable and snippy,” Serena Cerezo-Poon told Mom.com. “It definitely will affect your emotions and takes extra work making sure you’re not hurting other people, especially the people closest to you, like your spouse or your partner.”
Retrieving the eggs
Right before your egg retrieval date, your specialist will give a trigger injection to help your eggs mature more quickly. On the retrieval date, a doctor will remove your eggs through a minor outpatient surgery called follicular aspiration, which requires general anesthesia and sometimes causes cramping.
Even after taking drugs, you may only release one or few eggs healthy enough to fertilize; you may need to discuss other options. “One of the great things about being in a same-sex relationship is backup ovaries,” confided Cerezo-Poon to Mom.com. “We discussed retrieving some of my wife’s eggs and then transferring to me.”
Collection of sperm sample
Regardless, of whether you’re using live, frozen, or donor sperm, the samples are washed and spun at high speed to isolate the most viable sperm.
Fertilization
This is when the sperm are combined with eggs in either a dish or direct injection.
Transfer of embryo(s)
After your egg retrieval, you’ll need to take another medication to help prepare your uterine lining for embryonic implantation. If there is at least one healthy embryo, your doctor will then transfer the embryo(s) into your uterus with a catheter.
And then, you wait.
“I was sure it would not work. Yet, we ended up pregnant with twins,” Robbins told us. But just like non-assisted pregnancies, successful IVF rounds can also result in miscarriages. “When our twins were 2, we did a frozen embryo transfer that resulted in a pregnancy. At our second ultrasound, though, we found out I had miscarried.”
How much does IVF cost?
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Many people would love to attempt IVF, but the monetary cost is prohibitive. Check your state’s infertility insurance laws as well as your own health insurance to determine your insurance coverage and possible out of pocket expenses.
“Insurance (or lack thereof) is a major problem. I hear some states are better about providing coverage for IVF than others,” said Kelly Sharpe Reilly. “We had to pay for every cent by ourselves, which ended up being around $30,000, when it was all said and done,” the mother of two boys told Mom.com.
Because of the insurance issues, many people try IVF only after trying less invasive methods like IUI (intrauterine insemination). “We first attempted IVF after 5 years of lesser infertility treatments,” mom of three Becca Robbins tells Mom.com. “At the time, our insurance did not cover the medicines or treatment. We spent around $13,000 on the entire cycle.”
Is IVF right for you?
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“In my non-expert opinion, IVF is not for everyone,” said mom of three (two are IVF babies) Talesa Kung. “The emotional toll it can take on the person or the family can be a very stressful journey mixed with hope and disappointment, and family and/or self-imposed pressure,” she explained to us.
“Paying attention to the emotional aspect is really important,” cautioned Dr. Lynn Marie Westphal. “Most patients, I think, find the emotional part is much more difficult than the physical,” the professor of reproductive endocrinology at Stanford University told the New York Times.
Furthermore, you should discuss what to do with any frozen embryo(s) you do not use, your financial boundaries, and when you would consider stopping and exploring alternative options.
In the end, IVF offers no guarantees — just like all pregnancies. However, hopefully, you’re now a little bit more informed.
