The IVF treatment has become the most sought after procedure for couples seeking assisted pregnancy. Simplicity of technique and a lack of other complications developing are some of the reasons for a favourable view if the IVF treatment. Though initially developed in the late 1970s, the IVF treatment has evolved and newer techniques have developed that blend in seamlessly with the IVF process. The popularity has led to more couples seeking treatment, and a basic IVF cost in India is now one-fourth the rates available abroad.
Though many types exist, the following are the basic steps of an IVF cycle:
- Hormone treatments for women. This continues up to two weeks from the third day of the woman’s period. The treatments are aimed at stopping the menstrual cycle, as it proves to be a hindrance to the IVF treatment. Drugs are administered daily.
- Follicle stimulation hormones are injected daily to induce the ovaries to produce several amounts of eggs at the same time. This continues to up to 12 days.
- There are constant checkups of vital signs of the patient and the eggs so as to determine the extent of the process. This makes it easy to determine the best time for sperm and egg collection.
- Depending on the desire of the couple and the condition of the male partner, sperm is collected for fertilization. This is to be done about three hours prior to egg collection.
- Once sedated, a needle is injected into the ovaries of the woman and a maximum number of eggs are collected.
- The in vitro fertilization process itself is administered. The egg is usually fertilized within 24 hours.
- After ascertaining the number of eggs that have been fertilized, the embryos are cultured for another one to two days. Here, the process may be further prolonged for the creation of blastocysts. If not, the embryos are transferred into the woman’s uterus for pregnancy.
- If pregnancy is to be achieved through blastocysts, the embryos are further cultured for a few more days. The chances of pregnancy are higher through blastocyst transfer. In either case, between two to three embryos are transferred depending on the patient’s age and medical record.
A pregnancy test will be taken around two weeks after the procedure is complete. This will reveal whether the cycle of in vitro fertilization treatment has been successful. Further scans will determine the health of the baby. The cost of IVF treatment in India covers all these listed procedures.
The basic IVF treatment involves a select few procedures and the charges correspond to those procedures themselves. These include the doctor’s fee, follicular monitoring, embryologist’s fee, lab charges and charges for embryo transfer.
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