IVF for women

The concept of in vitro fertilization is to optimize human reproduction by making it more efficient. IVF takes many eggs and, during a 3-5 day culture process, the eggs are fertilized.  One or more of the fertilized eggs is then transferred into the uterus. By removing the eggs from the ovaries, fertilizing them outside of the body, and then transferring the embryo or embryos back into the womb, the net effect is that of compressing many months of attempting to conceive into one.

The general layout

Step 1: suppressing the natural menstrual cycle

Can make the medicines used in the next stage of treatment more effective and continue this for about 2 weeks.

Step 2: boosting egg supply

Once your menstrual cycle is suppressed you take an FSH fertility hormone (follicle stimulating hormone). This increases the number of eggs you produce, so more eggs can be collected and fertilized.

Step 3: checking progress

You'll have vaginal ultrasounds to monitor your ovaries and, in some cases, blood tests. About 36 hours before your eggs are to be collected you will get one more hormone injection to help the eggs mature.

Step 4: collecting the eggs

You'll be sedated and your eggs will be collected using a needle that's passed through the vagina and into each ovary under ultrasound guidance, takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Some women may experience cramps or a small amount of vaginal bleeding after this procedure.

Step 5: fertilizing the eggs

The collected eggs are mixed with your partner's or the donor's sperm in a lab. After 16 to 20 hours, they are checked to see if any have been fertilised. In some cases, each egg may need to be injected individually with a single sperm, this is called intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection or ICSI. They may continue to grow in the lab for 6 days before the best one or two are chosen for implantation.

Step 6: egg transfer

This is done using a thin tube called a catheter that's passed into the vagina. This is a simpler procedure so you do not need to be sedated

*If any suitable embryos are left over, they may be frozen for future IVF attempts*

Thank you for reading :) hope this cleared up some misconceptions. Written by Meghana

References

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeigYib39Rs

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ivf/ 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PTSD - A Psychodynamic Explanation

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder which you may develop after being involved in, or witnessing, traumatic events. The condition was first recognised in war veterans and has been known by a variety of names, such as 'shell shock'. PTSD can develop immediately after someone experiences a disturbing event, or it can occur weeks, months or even years later. Its estimated to affect about 1 in every 3 people who have a traumatic experience, but it's not clear exactly why some people develop the condition and others do not. There are many theories that could be used to explain this condition. Psychodynamic approaches to PTSD focus on a number of different factors that may influence or cause PTSD symptoms, such as early childhood experiences, current relationships and the things people do to protect themselves from upsetting thoughts and feelings that are the result of experiencing a traumatic event. The psychodynamic approach focuses mainly
Read more

Disparities in Global Eye Care

Vision is one of our most precious possessions. Multiple polls globally show that most people are more fearful of becoming blind than losing any other sense. (1,2) With sight being such a valuable asset, one would assume that eyecare is at the forefront of medical services across the world. Living in the developed world, we perhaps take for granted the simple and yet crucial services available to us such as regular eye tests, glasses, contact lenses and high-quality ophthalmic care - most of which can be accessed for free or at a subsidised price. However, in many parts of the world this is not the case. 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired, with 90% being from developing countries. (3) In China, for example, levels of blindness are increasing each year, however critically, rates of blindness have been reported at up to 4 times higher in the developing world as compared to more economically developed countries (4, 5). This is particularly worrying given that around 80% of
Read more

Do Contact Lenses Really “Support Your Vision”?

Image
Contact lenses have been frequently used as an alternative to glasses. Compared to the heavy-framed glasses in front of one’s eyes (optic glasses), thin plastic discs on the eye (contact lenses) help correct refractive errors in both myopic and hypermetropic users. The lens’ shape and power can be tailored to the user’s sight. A concave lens can be used to decrease myopia by reducing light refraction and increasing focal length so that the image is formed on the retina (1)  (Figure 1). Alternatively, a convex lens can be used to limit hypermetropia in an opposing mechanism to concave lenses (1) (Figure 1). Figure 1, An illustration of myopia and hyperopia and how adding lens of different shapes in front of the eye can be used to alter the refraction of light and correct each impairment in vision (10) Besides supporting sight, which both types of lenses can do, contact lenses confer some advantages that make them preferable to glasses. Unlike glasses, contact lenses are less likely to f
Read more