IVF – In Vitro Fertilisation
Overview
IVF can overcome a wide range of issues that obstruct natural conception.
There are many different steps to the reproductive process and a problem occurring at any of these stages can potentially result in difficulties getting pregnant.
For example, a woman might have damaged fallopian tubes or endometriosis, or the male partner may have poor quality sperm while for some couples, the cause is unknown.
Our team have pioneered IVF and Fertility Treatment for decades and have helped thousands of people to grow their family and overcome their fertility issues.
What exactly is IVF?
During the IVF process, the ovaries are stimulated and mature eggs are collected during a simple “egg collection” procedure. The eggs are then fertilised by sperm in the laboratory to create embryos. A resulting embryo will then be transferred to the uterus (this procedure is called an “embryo transfer”).
IVF Science & Beacon CARE Fertility
IVF science has advanced very rapidly in recent years and CARE’s clinicians and scientists have been at the forefront of these developments, helping to pioneer ever more effective treatments for a wide range of people.
Simon Fishel, founder of Beacon CARE Fertility and our Head of Research & Development, was part of the UK team who pioneered IVF from the first successful procedure carried out in 1978. Since then, over 5 million IVF babies have been born worldwide and over 50,000 of them are CARE babies.
When you feel you are ready, we’re here for you and ready to help.
Is IVF right for me?
Around 1 in 5 people in Ireland need help to have a baby.
We recommend that you see a fertility specialist to discuss IVF or other fertility options if:
- You’ve been having regular, unprotected intercourse for one year (or 6 months if the female partner is over 35) and you have not yet become pregnant
- The woman has irregular painful periods or a history of abdominal or pelvic surgery
- You’ve had two or more miscarriages, as this might indicate that there is something preventing your embryos from implanting
Based on your medical history they will develop a tailored plan for diagnosis of the exact nature of your fertility issue and then develop an individual treatment plan just for you.
How can IVF help you?
Our fertility treatments have helped thousands of people to start or grow their precious families. There are many different kinds of fertility issues that can make it difficult to conceive. It’s helpful to be aware of these issues and how IVF works to address these problems.
Some women have blocked fallopian tubes, which means that sperm are prevented from reaching the egg to fertilise it.
IVF overcomes this problem as the eggs are fertilised with your partner’s or donor sperm in our laboratory and then placed directly into the uterus (bypassing the fallopian tubes altogether)
For people with endometriosis, a procedure known as a laparoscopy may improve your chances of a successful pregnancy.
However, if you have damage to your fallopian tubes following this surgery then your doctor is likely to recommend IVF.
Similarly, if your endometriosis is not severe enough for surgery but you haven’t conceived after an extended period of trying then you may also consider IVF.
Your 20s are, biologically speaking, your most fertile years. As you move into your 30s, and particularly your late 30s, your ovaries will age just like the rest of your body.
Unfortunately, the quality of your eggs will slowly start to deteriorate, which means that they are harder to fertilise. Your egg supply will also naturally decrease as you get older.
Beacon CARE Fertility’s advanced IVF fertility techniques and technology such as CAREmaps (exclusive to our clinic) and PGT-A can help us to identify the embryos with the very best chance of developing into a healthy baby. Your consultant will advise you CAREmaps or PGT-A is recommended for you.
The process of maturing and releasing an egg – ovulation – can have a significant impact on fertility. There are a number of things which can interfere with this process including Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) which, among other things, can cause irregular menstrual cycles.
Women with PCOS may have difficulty getting pregnant because if an egg is not being released it will be impossible for one to be fertilised naturally.
With IVF, we can develop a specific stimulation protocol for you to help optimise the number of eggs you produce in your cycle. IVF is a very successful treatment for women who have PCOS.
Male infertility is the leading cause of failure to conceive in up to 40% of couples. Problems can arise when either not enough sperm is being produced, or if the sperm is of poor quality.
During IVF treatment, we can use a procedure called Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), where your sperm is injected directly into your partner’s eggs to fertilise them.
The IVF Process-Step by Step
Step 1: a woman’s ovaries are stimulated with a tailored dose of fertility drugs to help her produce multiple mature eggs. You’ll attend the clinic for monitoring scans during this stage so that we can check on your follicles (which produce the eggs) to determine the optimum time for egg collection.
Step 2: the mature eggs are carefully collected from the ovaries using specialist ultrasound guidance
Step 3: the eggs are then fertilised with partner or donor sperm in our embryology lab
Step 4: the resulting embryos are cultured in our state-of-the-art labs for three to five days. During this time, our expert embryologists check on your individual embryos daily to assess how they are developing. This helps us determine the best quality embryo to use for transfer.
Step 5: A simple procedure will then be carried out to transfer the embryo back into the uterus
Step 6: After two weeks, you will be able to take a pregnancy test. Whatever the outcome, we’ll be here to support you.