IVF treatment cost in Trichy

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is a process in which the woman’s egg and man’s sperm are artificially fertilized in a laboratory dish. In this procedure, the woman’s egg is extracted from the ovaries, artificially fertilised with the man’s sperm and then the embryos formed are transferred back to the uterus to conceive. 

The conception happens when the man’s sperm and woman’s egg are fertilised inside the uterus. If the fertilised egg gets attached to the uterine lining and continues to grow and develop, it is then called natural or unassisted conception.

IVF is one of the most effective assisted reproductive technology (ART). This is a special medical technique used to help couples who cannot conceive naturally experience this blissful journey.

Steps involved in IVF treatment

IVF treatment involves five basic steps. These are:

Step 1: Stimulation or superovulation

• To boost the egg production, some fertility drugs are given to the woman
• Generally, the average egg production by a female is one egg per month. Fertility medicine once administered enables the ovaries to produce several eggs. 
• During this process, the female will go through several transvaginal ultrasounds to evaluate the ovaries and blood tests to check the hormone levels.

Step 2: Retrieval of egg

• Follicular aspiration, a minor surgery, is performed to remove the eggs from the female uterus.
• This minor surgery is performed by the doctor with the help of ultrasound images. These images are a guide to the doctor as he inserts a thin needle through the vagina into the ovary and follicles which contains eggs. The needle has a suction device attached which extracts the eggs and fluid secreted out of each follicle. One follicle at a time.
• This same procedure is followed for the other ovary. During the process, you may experience some severe cramps, but they are not long-lasting and will go away within a day.
• In cases where a female is unable to produce eggs, donated eggs can be used and a pelvic laparoscopy is performed.

Step 3: Insemination and fertilisation:

• In this step, the man’s sperm is put along with the best quality eggs of the woman. The process of mixing sperm and eggs is known as insemination.
• The mixed eggs and sperms are then stored in a chamber that is environmentally controlled. Just after a few hours of insemination, the sperm enters the eggs and fertilizes.
• If the doctor feels that there are low chances of fertilisation, then they directly inject the sperm into the egg. This process is called intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI).

Step 4: Embryo culture

• An embryo is formed when the fertilised egg is divided. The embryologist keeps checking the growth of the embryo. Normally, within 5 days embryo starts to divide actively into several cells. 
• In certain cases, couples may risk passing their genetic disorders to the baby. In such a case, they may consider doing a pre-implantation genetic diagnosis(PGD). This process can be done after 3 to 5 days of fertilization. 
• The PGD helps the couple to decide which embryo is to be implanted and which is to be rejected. In this way, only the best embryos are implanted. However, this technique is not easily available in all centres.

Step 5: Transfer of the embryo

• Once the egg retrieval and fertilization are done, the embryo is implanted in the womb in about 3 to 5 days.
• Embryo transfer can be done in the embryologist’s clinic by inserting a thin, flexible tube-like structure called a catheter which contains the embryo. This catheter is then attached with an injection which contains an embryo combined with a fluid and inserted into the vagina via the cervix. 
• Once the embryo is injected, if the procedure is done correctly, the embryo sticks to the uterine lining and grows to transform into a fetus.
• If the number of embryos transferred is more than one, it can lead to multiple fetus formation. Sometimes, there can be certain complications when it comes to multiple fetus formation.
• The embryos which are not used in the process are kept frozen and can be used later on.

These are the steps involved in the process of IVF.