IVF Treatment

00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:08.800 IVF is an amazing technology that stands for in vitro fertilization 00:00:09.167 --> 00:00:11.767 and the simplest way to explain that 00:00:11.833 --> 00:00:16.833 is it's the process of removing an egg from an ovary, 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:21.633 getting sperm from a testicle, 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.867 and combining them in the laboratory to create an embryo. 00:00:25.933 --> 00:00:27.933 When it comes to IVF treatments, 00:00:28.167 --> 00:00:31.900 our clinic practices the standard of medicine 00:00:31.967 --> 00:00:34.900 which most good clinics will practice. 00:00:34.967 --> 00:00:38.933 The thing that makes us unique compared to other centers 00:00:39.267 --> 00:00:42.233 is that we go through that process in a way 00:00:42.300 --> 00:00:45.800 that is individualized for every patient who comes into the center, 00:00:46.433 --> 00:00:51.254 and it's done in a way that is the most patient-friendly that we can. 00:00:51.333 --> 00:00:53.800 Some of the people who can benefit from it 00:00:53.967 --> 00:00:57.267 are couples who are suffering from infertility. 00:00:57.333 --> 00:00:59.900 They're not able to conceive for a variety of different reasons. 00:00:59.967 --> 00:01:03.433 It's really a matter of listening to each individual patient 00:01:03.667 --> 00:01:05.567 to figure out if IVF is the right thing for them. 00:01:05.633 --> 00:01:07.967 The patient will call when she gets her period 00:01:08.033 --> 00:01:09.033 and usually come in 00:01:09.100 --> 00:01:11.433 somewhere between the first and the third day of that period. 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:13.400 At that point, she'll have a baseline ultrasound. 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:15.867 We look at her ovaries, do some blood work, 00:01:16.267 --> 00:01:20.100 and we will generally, have already ordered the medication that she has. 00:01:20.167 --> 00:01:23.033 We'll give her instructions on how to use that medication 00:01:23.100 --> 00:01:24.757 and then that evening of the... 00:01:24.957 --> 00:01:28.133 Usually the third night of her cycle, she'll start the medicine. 00:01:28.533 --> 00:01:31.900 Then over the next 12 days she'll inject that medicine 00:01:31.967 --> 00:01:33.167 on a nightly basis 00:01:33.233 --> 00:01:34.667 and come in for ultrasounds 00:01:34.733 --> 00:01:36.760 and blood work every two to four days. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:39.200 During those ultrasound blood work, 00:01:39.267 --> 00:01:41.200 we'll evaluate the ovaries, 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:44.433 check the follicles, and adjust the medication 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:47.000 as appropriate based on the findings. 00:01:47.160 --> 00:01:49.334 Usually after about 12 days, 00:01:49.433 --> 00:01:52.733 we then schedule a procedure under anesthesia. 00:01:52.800 --> 00:01:55.360 She's sleeping, wonderful rest. 00:01:55.667 --> 00:01:59.267 We direct a needle into each follicle that had been growing in the ovary. 00:01:59.333 --> 00:02:02.000 We drain the fluid out of the follicle to get the egg. 00:02:02.067 --> 00:02:04.267 Once we get the egg, we look through the eggs 00:02:04.333 --> 00:02:06.133 to find the eggs that are mature, 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:08.320 ones are ready to accept sperm. 00:02:08.440 --> 00:02:12.120 We combine sperm and egg together in the laboratory to create an embryo. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:16.520 That embryo then would grow over the next week in the laboratory 00:02:16.600 --> 00:02:19.960 and usually after a week, about half of the embryos are at a stage 00:02:20.033 --> 00:02:22.240 where they're ready to go back into a uterus. 00:02:22.333 --> 00:02:24.833 Those embryos, which are made of 130 cells, 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:28.200 we generally will remove three cells from each one of those embryos 00:02:28.267 --> 00:02:30.300 and freeze all of those embryos. 00:02:30.700 --> 00:02:34.120 Those embryos are frozen while now stay in our lab for safekeeping. 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:37.167 The cells that we remove then get analyzed 00:02:37.233 --> 00:02:39.933 so that we can tell which of those embryos 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.280 from where the cells came are genetically viable 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:47.400 and have the appropriate number of chromosomes to become a healthy baby. 00:02:47.467 --> 00:02:49.360 IVF can be an emotional process. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.560 It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort. 00:02:52.640 --> 00:02:54.267 There's significant vulnerability 00:02:54.333 --> 00:02:57.267 that people are exposed to while they're going through this. 00:02:57.333 --> 00:03:00.174 Hopes and dreams are right out in the open, 00:03:00.267 --> 00:03:03.560 and that can be a scary, a scary time. 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:06.667 The way that we support that is first by acknowledging it, 00:03:06.733 --> 00:03:07.767 that it is scary, 00:03:07.833 --> 00:03:11.300 that it can be an emotional process. 00:03:11.700 --> 00:03:13.600 Then, once we acknowledge that, 00:03:13.667 --> 00:03:17.600 we support each patient at the place where they need it.