In Vitro Fertilization
Getting Started
To start an IVF cycle, a couple will first need to meet with one of our physicians to review the medical history and to assess a couple’s prognosis. It’s important for each patient to understand her chance, as an individual, of having a pregnancy resulting in a live birth. 
At the initial IVF consultation, your doctor may ask you to complete additional tests to assess your prognosis. Important issues to be discussed at this visit will include an overview of the IVF process.
At the follow-up consultation, the physician will address any additional tests obtained and how they may impact your prognosis. Additionally, he/she will have a discussion of the number of embryos to be transferred , the issue of embryo cryopreservation, and the risks of IVF. (Please Refer to the "ASRM Guidelines" table on this page.)
After meeting with the doctor, a meeting with the financial counselor is prudent.
The IVF Process
Once you have decided to pursue IVF, our IVF coordinator will help guide you through the process. The IVF coordinator will be sure that all needed tests (see "IVF checklist" further down) have been performed and will help schedule your IVF cycle.
Preparation for your cycle
- When your menses begin, call the IVF coordinator.
- Any tests which need to be completed will be scheduled.
- Your medicines will be ordered, and an injection teaching class will be scheduled.
- You may be prescribed oral contraceptive pills for 9-21 days.
- If no HSG or saline sonogram has been performed within the last six months, a repeat saline sonogram will be performed.
- Once all of this workup is complete and your fees are paid, a trial embryo transfer will also be scheduled. At this visit, your doctor will place an embryo transfer catheter into the uterus to measure the depth of the uterine cavity and identify any difficulties that we might encounter on the day of the actual embryo transfer. This reduces the chance that your real embryo transfer will be difficult.
IVF Checklist-
Female IVF Checklist: Male IVF Checklist
Day 3 FSH, Estradiol Hepatitis B & C
Antral Follicle Count HIV 1 & 2
Saline Sonogram RPR
Blood type and screen Semen analysis
Complete blood count
Rubella
RPR
Hepatitis B & C
HIV 1 & 2
Pap Smear
Chlamydia/Gonorrhea
The Cycle
There are several Stimulation Protocols used to perform IVF. Each of these protocols is designed to help a woman produce more than the usual number of eggs: