IVF runs five steps: stimulation, egg retrieval, fertilization, embryo culture, and embryo transfer, followed by a two-week wait for the pregnancy blood test.
Stimulation means 8 to 14 days of injectable fertility drugs plus monitoring scans and bloodwork so many eggs mature at once. Retrieval is a minor sedated procedure (follicular aspiration) collecting eggs by ultrasound-guided needle. In the lab, eggs and sperm are combined, or a single sperm is injected into each egg (ICSI) when fertilization is a concern. Embryos then grow in an incubator for 3 to 6 days, with attrition at every stage: not all eggs fertilize, not all embryos develop. Transfer places an embryo into the uterus via a thin catheter, a quick no-sedation procedure. A blood test 9 to 14 days later gives the answer, and surplus good embryos can be frozen for later transfers. Expect the full cycle, from first injection to pregnancy test, to span about 3 to 4 weeks.
What to do
Common questions
What are the steps of IVF?
IVF has five basic steps. Step one, stimulation: you take fertility medicines (daily injections, roughly 8 to 14 days) so your ovaries produce multiple eggs instead of the usual one, with blood tests and ultrasounds tracking progress. Step two, egg retrieval: a minor procedure called follicular aspiration, done with sedation, where a thin needle guided by ultrasound collects the eggs from the ovaries; it takes under an hour and you go home the same day. Step three, insemination and fertilization: the eggs meet prepared sperm in a lab dish, or, when fertilization odds look low, a single sperm is injected directly into each egg (called ICSI). Step four, embryo culture: fertilized eggs grow in a controlled incubator for about 3 to 6 days while embryologists grade their development; not every egg fertilizes and not every embryo keeps growing. Step five, embryo transfer: one embryo (sometimes two) is placed into the uterus through a thin catheter, a quick procedure that feels like a Pap smear and needs no sedation. Then the two-week wait: a blood pregnancy test about 9 to 14 days after transfer tells you if it worked. Extra healthy embryos can be frozen for future attempts, which is why one stimulation cycle can support more than one transfer.