CHA FERTILITY CENTER, SEOUL STATION

It is medically known as “In Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer" (IVF-ET). Instead of the traditional fertilization process of sperm and egg meeting in a woman's fallopian tubes, a woman's mature egg and a man's semen are artificially harvested, fertilized in a culture dish, incubated for two to seven days, and then implanted into the woman's uterine lining to induce pregnancy.

Target

IVF is the method of choice in the cases of blocked or surgically removed fallopian tubes, previous failure of salpingoplasty, immunologic infertility (where the woman’s own immune system rejects sperm), It can also be used if a man has an insufficient sperm count or sperm motility. If you have severe endometriosis, low ovarian function, unexplained infertility, or have tried ovulation induction or artificial insemination and failed to conceive, you may also be eligible for IVF.

Process of IVF

• Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation

  Depending on the method used to induce ovulation, it can be divided into natural and artificial methods of ovulation stimulation.

  1) Natural ovulation stimulation
  A method of collecting mature eggs based on the natural cycle. Since natural ovulation only produces one egg per month, the goal is to collect one egg.

  2) Artificial ovulation stimulation
  Artificially stimulating ovulation can increase pregnancy rates by allowing multiple eggs to be retrieved at once, rather than in a natural cycle where only one egg is ovulated. Decades of fertility research have shown that IVF pregnancy rates increase when multiple mature eggs are retrieved, so most IVF treatments are now performed with ovulation stimulants. There are several different ways to use ovulation stimulants in IVF, and the choice is often based on the patient's age, ovarian function, and the results of previous ovulation induction.

• Oocyte retrieval

  It is very important to monitor the growth of the follicles closely with several ultrasounds during the hyperovulation induction process to determine the timing of the egg retrieval, because if the egg retrieval is too early, the eggs will be immature, and if it is too late, the eggs may not ovulate or the eggs will be over mature, resulting in a lower success rate. Once the timing of egg retrieval has been determined, you will be given hormone injections to induce egg maturation and ovulation, followed by egg retrieval approximately 36 hours later. After being sedated through an intravenous infusion, the eggs are collected with a needle through the vagina while your ovaries are monitored on a transvaginal ultrasound.

  The procedure takes about 20-30 minutes, and the patient can go home after waking up from anaesthesia. As the eggs are taken from the ovaries before ovulation, they need to mature before fertilization, which is achieved by incubating them for a period of time in a culture that mimics the environment in the recipient's body.

• Sperm retrieval

  Once the timing of the egg retrieval is determined, your husband will be asked to abstain from sex 2-3 days prior to ovulation, and on the day of the egg retrieval, sperm will be collected. The collected semen is washed several times to remove impurities, inflammatory cells, etc. in the semen and to create a suspension of motile sperm. The purpose of washing the sperm is to select the highest quality sperm with good fertilization potential.

• In vitro fertilization and embryo culture

  The eggs and sperm are placed in a culture dish set up to mimic the environment in the fallopian tubes at the site of fertilization. If the sperm are in good condition, fertilization is achieved by placing 50-100,000 sperm into the culture dish with the egg. However, if the sperm are not in good condition (motility, shape, count), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is performed, in which specially treated sperm are injected directly into the cytoplasm of the egg.

• Embryo transfer

  Embryo transfer is the final stage of IVF, where fertilised embryos are incubated for 2-5 days before being transferred into the uterus through the vagina and cervix.

  • 1.The procedure is performed without anaesthesia and you will lie down.
  • 2.The embryo is placed in a thin tube and inserted through the cervix into the uterus.
  • 3.This should take about 2-3 minutes.
• Confirmation and maintenance of pregnancy

  Around 14 days after egg retrieval for fresh cycle embryo transfer and 14 days after progesterone injection for frozen embryo transfer, you will have a blood test to confirm pregnancy. If the blood test confirms pregnancy, you will have 1-2 more blood tests 2-5 days apart to see if your levels are rising. If pregnancy is confirmed, you will have an ultrasound 1-2 weeks later to check for a gestational sac (baby house) in the uterus. From the day the eggs are retrieved or 3-5 days before embryo transfer, you will be given progesterone to help implantation. Formulations of progesterone given include subcutaneous injections, intramuscular injections, vaginal suppositories, and pills that you take. Even if pregnancy is confirmed, progesterone is given until about 8-9 weeks to ensure a safe pregnancy.

Ovulation induction process