IVF

What is IVF?

IVF is a fertility treatment that fertilizes eggs with sperm outside the body in a laboratory. After fertilization, the embryo grows in the lab for several days before fertility specialists transfer it into your uterus or freeze it for future use.

IVF also allows the University Reproductive Associates team to observe embryo development. When appropriate, patients may choose genetic testing before embryo transfer to gain more information about chromosome health or inherited genetic risks.

Who is a good candidate for IVF?

The team decides whether IVF fits your needs after a complete fertility evaluation. This may include bloodwork, ultrasound imaging, semen analysis, fallopian tube testing, genetic testing, and a detailed review of your medical history.

IVF can help patients with:

• Blocked or damaged fallopian tubes
• Severe male factor infertility
• Endometriosis
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• Unexplained infertility

IVF also supports patients using donor eggs, sperm, or embryos, and gestational carriers.

For some patients, IVF offers the most effective treatment path. For others, the University Reproductive Associates team may recommend alternatives like intrauterine insemination (IUI), ovulation induction, surgery, or another option first.

What happens before an IVF cycle begins?

Before IVF starts, your fertility specialist creates a personalized plan based on:

• Bloodwork
• Imaging
• Ovarian reserve
• Sperm health
• Uterine anatomy
• Medications
• Prior fertility treatments

Some patients also have a trial embryo transfer, hysteroscopy, or saline ultrasound to check the size and shape of the uterine cavity. This step helps the team plan a safer, smoother embryo transfer later.

How does the IVF process work?

During an IVF cycle, you take hormone medications to help the ovaries mature multiple eggs. The team monitors follicle growth with blood tests and ultrasounds.

When the follicles reach the right stage, you take a trigger shot to help the eggs mature. Egg retrieval takes place shortly afterward under light sedation. The lab fertilizes the eggs with sperm the same day.

Embryos grow in the lab for several days. If you aren’t doing genetic testing, the team may transfer an embryo during that cycle or freeze embryos for later transfer. If patients choose genetic testing, embryos stay frozen while awaiting the results.

Embryo transfer is a brief procedure that places an embryo into the uterus through a thin catheter. It usually doesn’t require anesthesia.

To learn how IVF could help you start a family, call University Reproductive Associates or schedule a consultation online today.