The success rates compare favorably to natural pregnancy rates in any given month when the woman is under 40 years of age and there are no sperm problems. IVF involves collecting eggs and sperm from a couple and placing them together in a laboratory dish to fertilize outside the body, or in vitro. The fertilized eggs are then transferred several days later into the woman's uterus, or womb, where implantation and embryo development will hopefully occur just as in a normal pregnancy. Your physician will want to maximize your chances for successful fertilization with each IVF attempt. Various hormonal medications are used to stimulate the ovaries to develop as many ovarian follicles as possible.
Follicles are fluid filled sacs in which eggs grow to maturity.
In addition to multiple follicle development, these medications are also used to control the timing of ovulation for egg recovery. Your physician may refer to this part of treatment as controlled ovarian hyper stimulation or superovulation. IM injections must be given deep into the muscle of the upper thigh or buttock. They can be difficult to self-administer, and usually need to be given by another person . However, SC injections are made to deliver medication just below the surface of the skin.