FIRST VISIT
During this first visit Fertty’s medical team will evaluate your entire reproductive medical history and review all the tests performed or request new tests if they have not been previously ordered (FSH on the third day of the cycle, Anti-müllerian Hormone or Antral Follicle Count by ultrasound). All this will help them to be able to design an exclusive personalised treatment.
OVARIAN STIMULATION
Normally women produce only one egg during a menstrual cycle. Fertty’s medical team will use injections to instruct your ovaries to produce several eggs. This process lasts between 8 and 11 days and during this process the Fertty’s team performs ultrasound controls and, sometimes, analytical controls of E2 or progesterone. Once the follicles have reached an adequate size, an injection of HCG will be used to mature the eggs and induce ovulation.
OOCYTE RETRIEVAL
35 hours after the HCG, we performed the aspiration of the eggs from the ovaries. It involves making a small puncture through the vagina. The medical team performs an ultrasound in which a needle will have been attached to the ultrasound machine and, through this fine needle, all the eggs available in that cycle will be aspirated. At the same time you will be mildly sedated for your comfort. The process takes about 20 minutes.
At the same time the partner will give a fresh semen sample. If this is not possible, the sample of donated semen selected for the process will be checked again. Before leaving the centre, you will be informed of the number of eggs collected and you will be instructed to start taking the progesterone that prepares the uterus for gestation. The embryo transfer will take place 3 to 5 days later.
EMBRIYONIC DEVELOPMENT
Fertty’s team of biologists unites the eggs with the sperm so that fertilisation can occur spontaneously. In cases where there are few sperm or fertilisation failure is suspected, a sperm is introduced into the egg. This process is called Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).
EMBRYO SELECTION
For roughly five days our team of embryologists regularly monitors the embryos to ensure that they are developing properly and dividing properly. The speed of division, the number of cells and their symmetry allows our team to select the highest quality embryos so that pregnancy can occur. Couples with genetic diseases, repeated miscarriages or age-related infertility may consider genetic diagnosis of embryos to select the healthiest embryo.
EMBRYO TRANSFER
Three to five days after the puncture, the embryos are transferred into the mother’s uterus. This simple procedure is performed inside the laboratory, using a catheter to insert them through the cervix. This technique does not cause any pain and does not require anaesthesia, so the woman can leave the clinic within a few minutes and go about her normal life from the next day onwards. Pregnancy takes place if the embryo engages in the endometrium. The embryos that have not been transferred are frozen to allow for future implantation.
ARTER THE TRANSFER
To help implantation occur, you will continue to take the progesterone for a further two weeks and a few days after the embryo transfer we will perform a blood pregnancy test. Once pregnancy is confirmed, you will continue to take progesterone for two weeks until your gynaecological team confirms the pregnancy by ultrasound. If the pregnancy has not been confirmed, you can decide with your gynaecologist to start a frozen embryo transfer or repeat a new cycle of In Vitro Fertilisation.
