IVF was originally developed to overcome problems with fertility due to blocked (or missing) fallopian tubes. Over the past few decades, it has helped many thousands of couples achieve their dream of having a baby. IVF treatment is now used to overcome many different issues with fertility including sperm antibodies, endometriosis, and unexplained infertility.
What does IVF treatment involve?
With IVF, sperm fertilises the eggs in a laboratory. 'In vitro’ translates as ‘in glass’, as fertilisation happens in a glass (or plastic) dish, rather than in the fallopian tubes. 
First, the ovulation cycle needs to be managed with hormonal stimulation, and the female partner’s egg is collected. This is placed in a dish with many thousands of sperm prepared from a sample provided by the male. Over the next few hours, fertilisation takes place, and embryos form.
The fertilised embryos develop in the laboratory for two to five days, and are then transferred to the woman’s uterus in a simple procedure called ‘embryo transfer’. At Queensland Fertility Group, embryos may be transferred on Day 2 or Day 5 (‘Blastocyst Stage’). Your doctor will make this decision based on your medical history, and the quality of the embryos.
If several embryos develop, we can freeze the surplus ones for use in subsequent cycles if necessary.
Read more about freezing embryos...Read more about IVF Fees & Medicare...
The IVF process step by step
Each IVF treatment cycle takes around six weeks and you’ll typically follow the following 12 steps:
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Step 1: Initial appointment
At your first appointment with your fertility specialist, they will review your medical history, all previous investigations and treatment, and give you preliminary advice about your treatment options. Both you and your partner should attend.
Step 2: Pre-treatment consultation
Meet again with your fertility specialist, sign the relevant consent forms, confirm your treatment plan, and ask any questions. Make sure you discuss any complementary medicines you’re taking, as these may interfere with your treatment.
Step 3: Treatment begins
Your fertility specialist or nurse gives you the medication you need, explains the treatment cycle timeline, and shows you how to give yourself the Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) injections. We recommend both you and your partner attend this appointment.
Step 4: Hormone stimulation
FSH is injected with a diabetic-style pen, and stimulates your ovaries to produce more eggs than usual. We can give you a higher chance of achieving fertilisation and pregnancy if we can collect more eggs.
Step 5: Treatment monitoring
Throughout your cycle, we measure your hormone levels with regular blood tests, and use ultrasounds to measure the size and number of your ovarian follicles. This also helps us identify the best time for egg, or oocyte, collection. Your treatment costs include all your blood and ultrasound tests.
Step 6: Trigger injecton
Once you have the optimum number and size of follicles, we plan your egg collection. This involves a trigger injection of hCG (human chorionic gonatrophin) to instigate ovulation, and then egg collection between 36 and 38 hours later. The hCG injection replaces the natural Luteinising Hormone in the body and 'triggers' or instigates ovulation. Sometimes we may use Synarel® nasal spray as an alternative.
Step 7: Egg collection in day surgery
We collect eggs in day surgery, and usually under ultrasound guidance. Most women prefer a light general anaesthetic, but you can have a local anaesthetic with sedation if you prefer. You will be at the hospital for about four hours, and you’ll need someone to drive you home afterwards. We suggest not returning to work until the following day.
In some rare cases, we may decide to collect the eggs with a laparoscope. This may also be done as part of the Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT) procedure.
On the morning of your egg collection your partner will need to provide a fresh semen (sperm) sample, so we can immediately fertilise your eggs.
Step 8: Egg fertilisation
The eggs we collect go to the laboratory, where they are prepared for fertilisation later that day. In IVF, prepared sperm and eggs are placed together in a dish where fertilisation occurs. In ICSI, an individual sperm is selected by a highly experienced embryologist, and, under very delicate microscopic control, each egg is injected with a single sperm.
Step 9: Embryo development
The egg and sperm are then placed in individual incubators at 37ºC, to mimic the temperature of the human body. The next day, scientists examine the eggs to see if fertilisation has occurred, and will call notify your doctor of the embryos’ development.
Step 10: Embryo transfer
Embryo transfer is a simple day-surgery procedure and takes place between two and six days after the egg collection. The embryos are transferred into the uterus through a very fine catheter passing through the cervix – a procedure similar to a pap smear.
In line with the Fertility Society of Australia recommendations, we transfer a maximum of two embryos to women under 40 years of age, and a maximum of one if you are under 35 and undergoing your first round of IVF treatment. This minimises the risk of multiple pregnancy.
Step 11: Embryo freezing
Any extra embryos not used during a treatment cycle can be frozen and stored until you wish to use them. Additional storage fees apply.
Step 12: Pregnancy test
Your nurse will organise an appointment for a blood test two weeks after the embryo transfer. Occasionally, women can have a period but still be pregnant, so this will happen even if your period has commenced. We do not recommend urinary pregnancy test kits as the hormone medication you take as part of IVF treatment can cause an incorrect reading.
Your pregnancy blood test results are usually available by mid afternoon. If the pregnancy test is positive, we will arrange an ultrasound scan for approximately three weeks later.
