Embryo transfer is the final and most exciting step of an IVF cycle

Aside from seeing a positive pregnancy test, the embryo transfer is the most exciting part of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. By the time you reach this point, you will have gone through several stages. These steps include ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval and laboratory fertilization. For the last step, your Dallas-Fort Worth fertility doctor will transfer an embryo into your uterus.

What happens before you have your embryo transfer procedure?

As a quick summary, you’ll take injectable fertility medications to stimulate the development of multiple eggs in your ovaries. Your Dallas-Fort Worth fertility doctor will then retrieve your mature eggs during a short, outpatient procedure.

Your eggs will then move to our IVF laboratory for fertilization. Depending on your needs and our team’s advice, embryologists will either use traditional fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). If fertilization is successful, you will have one or more IVF embryos. Our embryologists will monitor your IVF embryos while they grow in the lab for up to seven days.

If you are having preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) or planning a frozen embryo transfer for any reason, our embryologists will then freeze your IVF embryos. Otherwise, you will have a fresh transfer once your embryos reach the appropriate stage of development.

What happens when it’s time to do the transfer?

In many cases, such as with a frozen embryo transfer, you will first take hormonal supplements. These medications prepare your uterine lining for the transfer. Once your uterine lining is ready, your Dallas-Fort Worth fertility doctor will perform your transfer.

During the procedure, your doctor will have you lie on an exam table. He or she will then place a speculum into the vagina and remove the cervical mucous. Your doctor will then use ultrasound guidance to gently guide a catheter through your vagina and cervix to reach your uterus. This catheter contains an IVF embryo that the lab team placed in it.

Once the catheter is in place, your doctor will release the embryo into your uterus. The entire process takes about 10 minutes, and you can expect to have a pregnancy test about a week and a half after the procedure.

If you would like to learn more about how IVF can help you bring home a baby, please contact us to schedule an appointment. We look forward to guiding you on your path to parenthood.