Is IVF a complicated process?

No. In general, stimulation of the ovaries is used to obtain multiple eggs. The woman is pretreated with a drug called Lupron to put the ovaries at rest in preparation for the stimulation process. This takes approximately 12 days of daily subcutaneous shots. The stimulation process takes about 9 days utilizing a combination of drugs known as menopausal gonadotropin (including Pergonal, Pergonal Repronex, Fertinex, Gonadal-S and Follistim). These drugs can be administered subcutaneously or intramuscularly. Usually on or about the 10th day of stimulation, a shot of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is given to trigger the process of ovulation. Egg retrievals are performed 36 hours later and embryo transfers are performed 2 or 3 days after egg retrieval. If the embryos are transferred at the blastocyst stage, they are placed in the uterus 5 or 6 days after egg retrieval. The administration of progesterone is recommended until at least the eleventh week of pregnancy

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