As the name suggests, ‘in vitro’ means outside the human body. The IVF process consists of a series of stages. The ovaries are first stimulated to obtain more than one egg per cycle. After about 8-14 days, they are retrieved with a sperm sample. Mainly, in IVF (in vitro fertilization), the eggs and sperm retrieved from the couple are combined in laboratory petri dishes where the sperm fertilizes the egg on its own. The embryos resulting from the fertilization process are monitored for several days, and the highest quality embryo is chosen to be implanted into the uterus to achieve pregnancy. The couple is advised to take a pregnancy test two weeks after the embryo transfer.
