HOW LONG DOES IVF TREATMENT LAST?

Contrary to belief, IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatment is not a troublesome and long-lasting treatment. However, when a couple decides to start IVF treatment, some examinations and surveys are done before the treatment cycle begins. Sometimes this evaluation can take a long time due to the investigations. For example, if the couple has had recurrent abortions, genetic testing is required, which will take at least three weeks to complete. Therefore, the evaluation process before IVF treatment is variable for each couple, the more detailed the evaluation of the couple before IVF treatment, the more succcesfull the treatment outcome.

            IVF treatment is divided into three stages. The first stage, the stimulation of the ovaries, starts on the 2nd or 3rd day of the menstrual period and lasts 10-12 days in total. At this stage, insulin-like needles were used to do the injections around the periphery of the belly, the aim being to stimulate the ovaries and, when the oocyte-containing vesicles (called follicle) reach an average size of 20 mm, this process is completed with a trigger needle to complete the maturation of oocytes again done around the umbilicus. In this stage, during the stimulation of ovaries, 3-4 doctor visits by ultrasound were done in order to follow the follicular development, during these visits estrogen hormone measurements were performed as well. At the second stage, oocytes are collected from the follicles under anesthesia 35-36 hours after the trigger needle is made. This process is painless and lasts 15-30 minutes. Egg collection is referred to as oocye pick-up (OPU). On the same day, sperm taken after 2 to 5 days of sexual abstinence from the husband are fertilized with the eggs collected. Fertilization process is called microinjection. Just a single sperm is injected into a single egg. Mature eggs are injected with good quality sperm, selected using various methods such as IMSI, microchip, PICSI. OPU is the second stage of IVF treatment. If the egg is fertilized with the sperm noticed on the next day after microinjection which is performed on the day of OPU, it takes the name of embryo and the fertilized eggs, which are now embryos, start to be followed in the laboratory environment. In special cupboards in IVF laboratory called incubators, we usually follow the development of the embryos in order to choose the best one to transfer to the uterus. This follow-up period lasts 2-5 days and the best embryo reaching the blastocyst stage on day 5 after OPU is selected and left into the uterus with a very thin catheter. Embryo transfer procedure, which is the third stage, is done while the urine is full in the bladder and under ultrasound guidance and, is a painless procedure that lasts 5-10 minutes. The third and last but perhaps the most critical stage of IVF treatment is embryo transfer. After this step, waiting until the test of pregnancy is quite a stressful period. Some medicines have to be used during this waiting period. After 9-12 days from the transfer, a pregnancy test in blood is performed to determine whether the treatment is successful.

            In summary, IVF treatment period lasts for up to 20 days as a sum of 10-12 days of stimulation of the ovaries, 2 days of trigger needle and OPU i.e. egg collection, 2 to 5 days of fertilization and embryo development in the laboratory and embryo transfer.

            One of the most important points during IVF treatment is to relieve stress as much as possible and to rely on the team that runs the treatment process.