The IVF Process in Five Steps

Boost your egg production through superovulation

You’ll be given fertility drugs that will begin a process called stimulation — or superovulation, says the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In other words, the drugs — which contain Follicle Stimulating Hormone — will tell your body to produce more than just the normal one egg per month.

The more eggs you produce, the more chances you’ll have of a successful fertilization later on in the treatment.

You’ll receive transvaginal ultrasounds and blood tests on a regular basis during this step in the IVF process to check on your ovaries and monitor your hormone levels.

Remove the eggs

A little more than a day before your eggs are scheduled to be retrieved from your body, you’ll receive a hormone injection that will help your eggs mature quickly.

Then, you’ll have a minor surgical procedure — called follicular aspiration — to remove the eggs. This is generally done as an outpatient surgery in your doctor’s office, according to the NIH.

During the procedure, your doctor will use an ultrasound to guide a thin needle into each of your ovaries through your vagina. The needle has a device attached to it that suctions the eggs out one at a time.

If this part sounds painful, don’t worry — you’ll probably be given medication beforehand so that you won’t feel any discomfort. You may experience some cramping afterward, but this usually disappears within a day, the NIH explains.

Collect sperm from your partner or a donor

While your eggs are being removed, your partner will provide a sperm sample. You also may choose to use donor sperm. The sperm are then put through a high-speed wash and spin cycle in order to find the healthiest ones.

Unite sperm and eggs

Now comes the part of IVF that everyone’s the most familiar with — combining the best sperm with your best eggs. This stage is called insemination.

It usually takes a few hours for a sperm to fertilize an egg. Your doctor may also inject the sperm directly into the egg instead, a process known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).