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IVF: In vitro fertilization

IVF treatment has helped many infertile couples fulfil their dream of becoming parents. It includes a number of special procedures which modern medicine offers.

Alternatives to standard IVF

The aim of these approaches is to attempt the most natural course of artificial conception and to minimize treatment costs. However, these methods offer a relatively low success rate.

Cycle of oocyte donation

Our clinic has focussed from the very beginning on treatment with donated oocytes. Thanks to the results we see it as one of the most successful methods.

Assisted reproduction and artificial fertilization

Assisted reproduction offers a wide range of methods and procedures to help infertile couples get a baby. These techniques are also often called artificial insemination or ART (assisted reproduction technology) or AR (Assisted Reproduction).

Assisted reproduction ranges from simpler to sophisticated methods. The simplest method is IUI – intrauterine insemination. This method is the least invasive, but it has a very low success rate of 5-15% per cycle. It is suitable only in indicated cases - young women using donor sperm or couples that do not have regular intercourse. The most well-known and most widely used method of artificial insemination is IVF, or in-vitro fertilization.

The popular name "test tube babies" is used for this method. The IVF cycle begins with hormonal preparation of the woman using high-quality stimulation preparations in a suitable stimulation protocol. This will lead to the maturation of a large number of eggs in the follicles. Afterwards, these eggs are collected and subsequently fertilized with sperm. Nowadays, ICSI and PICSI micromanipulation techniques are used to inject one sperm directly into the egg. These methods can be augmented by another supplementary method called MACS, which will select a suitable sperm cell using a magnet.

The resulting embryos are cultivated in an incubator and we can use the time-lapse monitoring system to follow their early development. A pre-implantation embryo examination may also be performed prior to the transfer to screen for aneuploidy that may cause miscarriage or the birth of a child with a congenital developmental defect (e.g., Down syndrome).

The final step is the transfer of one embryo back to the womb of the woman. More embryos used to be transferred in the past. However, this did not increase the success of the treatment. On the contrary, the risk of multiple pregnancies increased. Babies in case of multiple pregnancy are on average born six to eight weeks earlier, which, in addition to low birth weight, is associated with a number of other problems - insufficiently developed lungs, eye problems, etc. One embryo transfer is also recommended by health insurance and the state. If one embryo is transferred during the first three cycles, the woman is also eligible for a fourth IVF cycle.