In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF)


Fertility Treatments

IVF basically means fertilization of the egg outside the human body. IVF is a major fertility treatment when all other forms of ART treatments have failed and it may also be useful in overcoming female infertility due to problems associated with the fallopian tube, causing in-vivo (inside the human body) fertilization difficult.

IVF involves a cascade of events that may take 2 weeks to 5 weeks to complete an IVF treatment. When a couple decides to start an IVF treatment, her ovaries are shut down by administering hormone injections. Once her ovaries are “sleeping”, another series of injections will take place to stimulate the ovaries to produce more than one egg, which is what you would produce in unstimulated cycle. When the eggs are matured they are collected using ultrasound and a fine hollow needle. Once the woman is sedated, a small probe is placed into the vagina to guide the needle to the ovaries, and the eggs are retrieved. The eggs are then mixed with the sperms in a flat, glass petri dish and kept in culture in the incubator for at least two days. The fertilised eggs (embryos) are then transferred back into the womb using a fine plastic tube. Surplus embryos are then kept in the freezer (― 196ºC) for later use without having to undergo anymore prolonged injections.

IVF is an extremely safe procedure. However, like all medical treatment, there are risks involved. Once of the accepted risk is the risk of having multiple births such as twins or triplets. This is directly related to the practice of replacing more than one embryo at time of embryo transfer. In the event of replacing only one embryo into the womb, spontaneous splitting of the embryo which results in identical twins can also occur but rare. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is also another form of complication that can occur during IVF treatment. OHSS is more common in young and thin women with polycystic ovaries, i.e. ovaries with many tiny follicles. Women who have more than 15 eggs collected during IVF may have fluid leakage from the ovaries, leading to excessive collection of fluids in the tummy or lungs.


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