In vitro fertilization refers to a procedure where the woman's eggs are removed from her ovaries and fertilized with the man's sperm outside the body, in a laboratory. The embryos formed are then put back into the uterus to achieve a pregnancy.IVF was initially offered to patients with bilateral tubal block. Today, its indications include mild to moderate male factor, couples who are unable to conceive after first and second line procedures like ovulation induction (OI) and intra-uterine insemination (IUI), patients with endometriosis, Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome who have not conceived with routine treatment and those with unexplained infertility. IVF is also the treatment option for couples requiring donor oocytes and / or surrogacy.
This depends on various factors like: age of the patient, type and duration of infertility, ovarian response, type of procedure [ fresh or vitrified embryo transfer, self or donor eggs ]. Your consultant will be able to give you a prognosis after proper evaluation. While there is no guarantee, we do our best to ensure you find happiness.
The Concept In vitro fertilization refers to a procedure where the woman's eggs are removed from her ovaries and fertilized with the man's sperm outside the body, in a laboratory. The embryos formed are then put back into the uterus to achieve a pregnancy.
Whom does it help IVF was initially offered to patients with bilateral tubal block. Today, its indications include mild to moderate male factor, couples who are unable to conceive after first and second line procedures like ovulation induction (OI) and intra-uterine insemination (IUI), patients with endometriosis, Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome who have not conceived with routine treatment and those with unexplained infertility. IVF is also the treatment option for couples requiring donor oocytes and / or surrogacy.
What are the chances of success This depends on various factors like: age of the patient, type and duration of infertility, ovarian response, type of procedure [ fresh or vitrified embryo transfer, self or donor eggs ]. Your consultant will be able to give you a prognosis after proper evaluation. While there is no guarantee, we do our best to ensure you find happiness.
The Process
Preparatory Tests
These depend on your and your partner's age and history. These include : basic evaluation mentioned in Infertility Assessment above. In addition, we will also advise routine blood reports to check your physical fitness. Extra tests, to check hormone levels or determine ovarian reserve maybe advised as required.
Treatment
Precautions after an IVF treatment
The Concept
Naturally, the fertilization process involves the penetration of a single sperm from the ejaculate into the egg (called oocyte in scientific terms) released during the menstrual cycle. Said sperm must penetrate the shell of the oocyte (called zonapellucida) to immediately after fuse with the female gamete.
Sometimes, either due to physiological deficiencies that may lead to a drastic reduction or absence in the production of gametes or due to poor gamete quality or defects in the interaction, the process of fertilization can be diminished or even prevented.
From the Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART) perspective there are two main approaches to overcome these deficiencies: Conventional In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).
The Procedure
Conventional IVF is based in the interaction between the oocytes and the sperm. After the egg retrieval, each oocyte and the set of cells that surround it (granulose cells) will be put in a drop of culture media containing a suspension of sperm at a given concentration. From this interaction a single sperm should penetrate into the egg to fertilize it.
Limitations of the technique
Although the technique mimics the natural interaction between the gametes that occurs in the Fallopian tubes, it requires a certain semen concentration due to which not all samples are capable of being used for conventional IVF.
Likewise, the technique cannot solve the possible problems of interaction between female and male gamete so that the uncertainty about the success of the procedure is generally higher.
The Procedure
ICSI is based in the insertion of a selected sperm into the oocyte, overcoming the limitations that conventional IVF faces with poor semen samples and deficiencies in the interaction between the gametes. Because of this, ICSI has become the most commonly used IVF technique. With the help of an advanced micromanipulation station (including microscope, microinjectors and micropipettes) the sperm has to be individually selected and immobilized. During the microinjection the oocyte has to be held while the sperm is inserted and released inside the inner part of the oocyte. The day after the microinjection the signs of proper fertilization will be checked in each oocyte.
Who is this for
The indications of conventional IVF and ICSI are tubal factor, uterine factor, premature ovarian failure, ovulatory dysfunction, endometriosis, diminished ovarian reserve and unexplained infertility. ICSI is specially recommended for samples presenting alterations in the semen analysis (mostly in cases of low concentration or motility), situations in which there are a limited number of oocytes available or in cases of previous fertilization failures with conventional IVF. This leads conventional IVF to be usually indicated in good prognosis patients were the quality of both gametes is not an apparent limitation.
Egg donation:
Ovum (egg) donation is a process where the eggs of a healthy young woman (the egg donor) are fertilized with the sperms from the patient's husband and the resulting embryos are then transferred into the patient's uterus. This process not only gives the couple the gift of parenthood but also gives the woman the opportunity to experience the joys of being pregnant.
The Procedure
The process of egg donation starts with the selection of a donor. The candidate will be an anonymous donor who has been approved after a series of medical and genetic screenings. The donor's ovaries are stimulated by a stimulation regimen to produce multiple eggs. The eggs are then retrieved, fertilized and the embryos cultured. The embryos with the highest quality are transferred into the recipient's uterus.
Who is it for
Embryo Adoption (or Donor Embryo Transfer)
Some couples have a severe egg AND sperm factor. If they have been unsuccessful with self-gametes or wish to opt for a donor egg and donor sperm for medical reasons, this can be offered to the couple and is rightly called Embryo adoption or more commonly embryo donation (the latter term is actually a misnomer).
In this procedure, a healthy anonymous donor’s eggs are fertilized with anonymous donor sperm from a sperm bank and one or two of resultant embryos are placed in the intending mother’s womb at an opportune time. This leads to a high pregnancy rate. However, it is essential for the couple to understand, grasp and accept the fact that resultant offspring will not be their genetic child but will be their biological child. It is a pre-requisite that the couples undergo thorough counselling and are mentally ready for this form of treatment.
Sperm Donation
Donated sperm is offered to couples where there is no possibility of retrieving sperms naturally or by a surgical procedure for a man. The donor sperm is used to either inseminate the woman (IUI) or to fertilise her eggs in an IVF process. As is obvious, the couple is counselled together about the implications and process involved in such a treatment.
All donor sperm samples are to be availed from established and registered sperm banks. These sperm samples are from fertile donors that have been screened for viral infections and common genetic disorders. No fresh donors or known donors should ever be used.
The samples are identified by a number code provided by the sperm bank.
Minimum | Maximum | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
INR | USD | INR | USD | |
IVF / ICSI | 266000 | 3877.22 | 392000 | 5713.79 |