Table of Contents
- What is IVF?
- Is IVF right for me?
- Treatment timeline
- How to prepare for IVF
- How much does IVF cost?
- Success rates
- Side effects
Deciding to start or grow your family is a big moment in any person’s life, but it isn’t always simple. Many people around the world will face fertility obstacles in their journey. Thankfully, modern fertility treatments can help more people achieve their family dreams, with a little help. Arguably the most well-known of those treatments is IVF.
What is IVF?
In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is an advanced type of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and a medical procedure designed to help couples conceive and have a baby when they have been struggling to do so naturally. In natural fertilisation, sperm and an egg meet inside the body. Through IVF, this process occurs manually in a laboratory. ‘In vitro’ is a Latin term meaning ‘in glass’, referring to the process of fertilising in a glass Petri dish.
Is IVF right for me?
People opt to undergo IVF as part of their fertility treatment for both medical and personal circumstances. IVF is a popular treatment course for individuals and couples who are struggling with infertility or other fertility-related issues. For women, these include irregular ovulation or ovulation disorders, PCOS or endometriosis, as well as blocked or damaged fallopian tubes. Males may experience infertility through a low sperm count or poor sperm morphology (size and shape). IVF is also an option where infertility has no clear explanation.
IVF also helps people who are carriers for a genetic disorder to avoid passing it onto their child. Our scientists can analyse an embryo’s genetic material prior to its implantation in the uterus. Genetic testing for IVF is often not a compulsory measure but can help provide peace of mind. Many people also preserve their fertility through egg or sperm freezing if they are preparing for a medical treatment that could affect their ability to have children. In these cases, IVF is often the best option for pregnancy.
Outside of these reasons, IVF also helps people become pregnant where they may not be able to naturally. This includes single women and those in same-sex relationships, who can undergo IVF using donor sperm.
ICSI
In cases of male infertility, your fertility specialist may recommend a specialised form of IVF: Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). This treatment differs from standard IVF by directly injecting the egg with a single sperm, rather than placing the egg with a full sperm sample. This process allows us to isolate the healthiest sperm and insert them directly into the egg, increasing the likelihood of fertilisation.
Is there an age limit for IVF?
Female fertility naturally declines with age, and the number of eggs reduces, making it more difficult to become pregnant. Women in their mid- to late-forties may struggle to fall pregnant using fresh eggs. However, patients can undergo IVF using eggs frozen at a younger age, either by the patient or a donor.
We generally avoid conducting IVF cycles for women who are 46 or older. However, for women who use their own frozen embryos or donor eggs, we can complete an embryo transfer up until the age of 51. If you’re in your 40s and thinking about your fertility options, speak to our fertility specialists. They will give you the best recommendation for your personal circumstances.
IVF treatment timeline
A complete IVF cycle timeline often includes a variety of different elements. This can sound daunting as a patient, but each aspect of the treatment journey works together to give you the best chance of having a healthy baby.
Before anything else, fertility specialists begin by assessing your fertility and medical history, conducting blood tests and potentially vaginal ultrasounds to gauge female fertility, and semen analysis for men. In situations where there is a fertility issue for either partner, we may need to delay the IVF process to do other treatments first. These treatments, including sperm extraction or reproductive surgery, can help to ensure IVF has the highest likelihood of being effective.
Once the fertility specialists are confident that you are healthy enough, they can begin preparing for IVF. This is what a typical IVF process looks like:
- Day 1. The timing of your treatment is based around knowing the first day of your menstrual cycle. On day one, you will notify your fertility clinic that your period has started, and they can begin tracking.
- Hormone Stimulation. As soon as your period starts, you will begin a course of medication to prompt multiple eggs to develop. Patients begin taking stimulation medication on day 3 in the form of injections, administered at home by the patient. This continues for around two weeks. At this stage, you will also regularly visit your fertility clinic for ultrasounds and blood work to make sure that everything is progressing well.
- Trigger Shot. Once your follicles have reached the appropriate size, you will receive a trigger shot to help induce ovulation. The trigger shot occurs 36 hours prior to your egg collection appointment.
- Retrieval. The egg retrieval appointment is relatively quick and carried out under light sedation. We place a fine needle through the vaginal wall and directly into the ovary to collect the eggs. Around 8 to 10 eggs are retrieved on average. The process usually takes only 10 to 15 minutes, with some time spent in recovery afterwards.
- Sample. On the same day as egg collection, the male partner produces a fresh sperm sample. In cases where the male partner cannot attend on the day, they can prepare a sample in advance and have it frozen. We may also use a donor sample instead.
- Fertilisation. After collection, each egg combines with some sperm in the hopes of fertilisation and the creation of embryos. We incubate each embryo and grow it until it reaches a Blastocyst stage, typically occurring around Day 5. At this point, it is ready for transfer.
- Transfer. When one or more embryos have reached the blastocyst stage, you will return to the clinic and have an embryo implanted into your uterus. Each embryo that is not transferred will be safely preserved through freezing to be used in any future cycles.
- Test. After an embryo transfer and successful implantation, we wait for two weeks before testing for pregnancy. We use a blood test instead of a home pregnancy test because this is a more accurate measure.
Some patients will opt for preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), where embryos are assessed for genetic conditions prior to embryo transfer. There are multiple PGT treatments, used for both non-inherited conditions and genetic conditions present in the family history.
Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee that fertility treatment will achieve a pregnancy, even when using IVF. It’s never the result we want, but we are committed to helping you through all of the feelings that come with an unsuccessful IVF cycle, and navigating the next steps.
How long does IVF take?
A full IVF cycle — from the initial consultation through to the pregnancy test — usually takes between 6 and 8 weeks. It is not uncommon for patients to go through multiple cycles before falling pregnant. However, the chance of having a baby increases with each successive cycle, known as the Cumulative Live Birth Rate.
How long to wait between IVF cycles?
The amount of time between your IVF cycles will be closely related to your personal circumstances. In many cases, women will have at least the length of one menstrual cycle between IVF cycles. However, it is possible to have back to back cycles. Your fertility specialist will assess your individual case and make the safest recommendation.
Waiting between cycles can be beneficial both physically and mentally. While the processes within IVF treatment do not typically cause any physical issues, it can be helpful to allow your body to recover fully from any medication. Having a break can also help to renew your mindset and improve your emotional and mental health. IVF is a complex process and can take its toll on your mind just as much as your body. Taking a break from the stress can help you feel better if and when you decide to start another cycle.
How to prepare for IVF
An IVF cycle is a big deal, and will take a lot of time and energy. It’s important to be in a positive space mentally and physically before starting, which you can achieve by following a healthy diet, avoiding alcohol and other substances, maintaining a light exercise routine, and practising good stress management.
Fertility treatments before IVF
While IVF is great for those struggling to fall pregnant naturally, there are multiple options you can pursue first. Ovulation induction, for example, uses medication to create a certain ovulation period, which can help couples know when to have intercourse. This ensures they are trying during the right time of the menstrual cycle. Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is another minimally invasive option where sperm is injected directly into the uterus to give it a better chance of reaching the egg and achieving fertilisation.
Genetic screening before IVF
Using just a sample of saliva or blood, we are able to screen for hundreds of genetic conditions and identify whether any prospective parents or donors are a carrier of one or more. This helps you understand your personal health and provides important information to consider when starting to plan your family. While not compulsory, we think genetic carrier screening is a worthwhile practice for anyone planning on having a child. In particular, we recommend getting screened if you have a family history of one or more genetic conditions, or if you have been struggling to get pregnant through months of trying.
Egg and sperm freezing
Due to any number of personal or medical circumstances, now might not be the right time for you to try for a baby, though you know you would like to have a family in the future. Fertility preservation can help you navigate this situation by freezing sperm or eggs for future use in IVF.
How much does IVF cost?
IVF treatment is a very comprehensive treatment with multiple different processes at play. As such, there are multiple different costs involved. Thankfully, the IVF cost — and most other related treatments — is partially covered by Medicare, meaning that eligible patients can receive a rebate on the cost of their treatment. To receive a Medicare rebate, you need to have a referral letter from your fertility specialist or GP. Additionally, the Extended Medicare Safety Net (EMSN) provides an additional rebate when your costs go over an annual threshold. The EMSN threshold in 2023 is $2414.
At Create Fertility, there are different estimated out-of-pocket IVF fees associated with initial and subsequent cycles, as well as whether or not your cycle includes the ICSI specialisation. It is also likely that you will have to pay for additional services beyond the cycle fee alone. You can find out more about our estimated costs here.
Success rates for IVF
Our goal with any patient going through IVF is to help them have a live birth as soon as possible. However, it’s important to understand that most people do not have a live birth with only one cycle of IVF; it often takes multiple cycles to have a successful pregnancy. According to the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA), the IVF live birth rate is at its highest between the ages of 30 and 35, with progressive decline from then on. At all ages, the likelihood of a live birth increases with each subsequent cycle, but rates after the age of 40 are comparatively low.
There are ways to increase the IVF success rate in older age. The chance of becoming pregnant is heavily related to the fertility health and age of the eggs being used as part of the treatment. While IVF typically involves stimulating natural egg growth, using donor eggs that were frozen at an earlier age increases the likelihood of having viable and healthy embryos for implantation.
Side effects of IVF
The most common symptoms that women experience during treatment are side effects from IVF injections, specifically the stimulation injections taken to promote egg development and induce ovulation. These medications can increase hormone levels to prepare the body for pregnancy, and may exaggerate typical symptoms of the menstrual cycle including nausea, bloating and tenderness. In uncommon cases, this can develop into Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). Patients should immediately speak to their doctor or fertility specialist if they begin experiencing pelvic pain, heavy vaginal bleeding or fever. However, most treatment courses progress without any serious complications.
In some IVF cases, multiple embryos will be transferred to the uterus at a time, to increase the chance that one will successfully implant and lead to a pregnancy. This is typically reserved for older patients and after consultation with their fertility specialist, but it can create the risk of multiple births, which increases the likelihood of pregnancy complications.
Rest assured, we always discuss the risks and side effects of IVF treatment and whether one or more embryos with you, and we will follow the best and safest treatment course.
Helping you grow your family
Through IVF and other fertility treatments, our team of specialists, nurses and scientists commit to helping you realise your family dreams as safely and comfortably as possible. Get in touch with us to learn more about IVF or how else we can help you have a baby.
