In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment
Once considered a revolutionary treatment for infertility, IVF is now commonplace and helps thousands of couples to conceive every year. At Fertility in Community, you can access expert treatment at a local clinic, making IVF more cost effective and convenient than ever before, with fixed price packages, and even money back guarantees, to give you complete peace of mind.
How is IVF performed?
IVF treatment covers the whole of your cycle, from around the third day of your period. There are several stages to the IVF process, and all consultations and scans can be done at your local “Fertility in Community” clinic.
Egg collection, all the embryology related work, and embryo transfer are “regulated” activities, and will be performed at the primary HFEA licensed centre: IVF London (HFEA centre number 0365).
Stimulating the ovaries – the ovaries are simulated to produce multiple eggs at once and progress is monitored using ultrasound scans.
Harvesting the eggs – this takes place at the central London centre. The procedure is done via the vagina under local anaesthetic and takes less than half an hour.
Combining the eggs and sperm – the harvested eggs are brought together with prepared sperm and left to fertilise under laboratory conditions.
Growing the fertilised eggs – successful zygotes are transferred to a growth medium for around four days until they have reached the ‘blastocyst’ stage.
Embryos transfer – the best quality embryos are selected for transfer to the uterus. This is done via a vaginal catheter inserted through the cervix (neck of the womb). The cervix is visualised using a vaginal speculum (like the one used for cervical smear procedure).
Freezing unused healthy embryos – suitable embryos that are not used immediately, may be frozen for use in future cycles, avoiding the need to go through the whole process every time.
When do we need to do IVF?
By facilitating fertilisation outside of the body, using carefully selected eggs and sperm, and the best of the resulting embryos, IVF can overcome a wide range of fertility problems, including:
Damaged or blocked fallopian tubes
Low sperm quality or quantity
Hostile cervical environments
Age related issues
Physical disabilities preventing normal intercourse
IVF success rates
The success rate for IVF varies according to your age. According to the HEFA, the chances of a single cycle of IVF resulting in pregnancy are as follows:
Under 35 – about 29%
35 to 37 – about 23%
38 to 39 – about 15%
40 to 42 – about 9%
Over 42 – 3% or less
