When couples cannot have a baby naturally or through other assisted reproductive methods, they want to have a baby by resorting to in vitro fertilization treatment. They think that they can always have a baby with this method. However, for in vitro fertilization treatment to be successful, certain factors must be suitable. Couples should be prepared for the treatment to be applied in every respect and establish the necessary communication with their doctor.
What should be done before in vitro fertilization treatment?
Before IVF treatment or before deciding to apply this treatment, couples should research whether pregnancy can be achieved. If the research does not reveal sperm problems in the man and the woman's ovulation functions are regular, IVF treatment is not necessary. These couples can have a baby with treatments that increase ovulation or with insemination treatment. These methods are more economical than IVF treatment. In treatments that increase ovulation, the number of eggs developed in the woman during the month is increased. Pregnancy can be achieved naturally with this method. By having sexual intercourse at appropriate periods recommended by the doctor, couples can have a baby.
When the insemination method is preferred, the sperm taken from the man is concentrated in laboratory conditions and made mobile. These are placed in the woman's uterus to increase the chance of pregnancy. This shortens the time to achieve pregnancy and provides a higher sperm count. When the insemination method and methods that increase ovulation are used together, the chance of pregnancy is higher. When it is determined in the studies that couples can achieve pregnancy with in vitro fertilization, studies should be started accordingly. In order for the treatment to be successful, both the woman and the man need to apply certain things.
What should male patients do?
Before IVF treatment, men should inform the doctor if they have had a fever in the previous two months. Because men with fever have lower sperm quality and negatively affect IVF treatment. Apart from this, infections and inflammations in the genitals will have the same effects. These factors should definitely be shared with the doctor.
Men should avoid heavy exercise and sports activities before IVF treatment. These should be stopped three months before treatment. Tight underwear should not be worn. Alcohol and smoking habits should be stopped three months before. The doctor should be informed about the medications used. When the date for IVF treatment is determined, sexual intercourse should not be had for three days before. In addition, men should not have sexual intercourse for 10 days after treatment. Again, they should not go to a Turkish bath, spa or sauna for three months before treatment. Such hot environments are factors that negatively affect sperm quality.
What should female patients do at this stage?
Women who decide to have IVF should contact their doctors before the treatment. They should provide their doctors with the necessary information about diseases in the genital area or sexually transmitted diseases that they have had in the past. Women should avoid exercises that will affect their abdominal area when they decide to have treatment. As with men, they should quit drinking and smoking at least 3 months in advance. They should inform their doctors about the medications they use and should not enter hot environments such as saunas, Turkish baths and hot springs for 3 months in advance. They should not drink more than 2 fizzy drinks a day and should avoid dieting to lose weight.
When going to the doctor for treatment, what should be taken into consideration?
Couples who go to the doctor should be informed about other assisted reproduction methods they have used before and the medications they are using. Attention should be paid to the cleanliness of the examination area during the examination. Women in particular should be careful about the examination and appointment times during treatment. They should follow the procedures that their doctor will give them regularly and without fail. Couples should get answers to all kinds of questions about IVF treatment from their doctor. Patients who are informed in this way will affect the success of the treatment. It is not right for them to learn these from their environment.
What are the stages of IVF?
After the necessary studies for in vitro fertilization treatment have been completed, the treatment stages can be started. This treatment consists of 4 stages.
Egg stimulation: After the necessary tests and examinations before the treatment, the egg stimulation phase is applied to the woman. In order to determine the drugs to be used for the treatment, the woman's age, egg reserve in her ovaries and hormone levels are evaluated. According to the results of these, the dose and method of use of the drugs to be used are arranged. This treatment includes different applications for each patient. The use of these drugs is started on the second or third day of the woman's menstrual bleeding. However, in some patients, treatment can be started on the 21st day of the menstrual period. If these drugs cannot be given in the appropriate dose, when a woman is administered a high dose, an ovarian overstimulation disorder called OHSS may occur. Therefore, the use of drugs during the egg stimulation phase is very important. The side effects of the drugs at this stage may only be in this regard. Due to the overstimulated ovaries, the effect of fluid accumulation in the body may be observed. This may cause the woman to gain weight. When there is excessive fluid accumulation, fluid removal from the woman's belly may be on the agenda. In this respect, women are constantly monitored.
Egg collection: After the egg stimulation phase of the treatment is completed, the woman is given a vaginal ultrasound and the egg collection phase is started. During this procedure, the woman is given general anesthesia. In previous years, since anesthesia was not used at this stage, it was a very painful procedure. However, today it is completed in a very comfortable and painless manner. The eggs are collected with the help of special tools and needles and placed in sterile tubes. These tubes are taken to the laboratory environment. There are no side effects at this stage. However, some pain may be felt after the procedure. Since this pain is not severe, it can be controlled with simple painkillers. While this procedure is performed on the woman, sperm is taken from the male patient in the laboratory environment.
Creating the embryo and placing the embryo in the uterus: At this stage, the eggs collected from the woman and the sperm collected from the man are fertilized in a laboratory environment to obtain an embryo . After the eggs are collected, embryos are created to be placed in the woman's uterus within 5-7 days. The embryos are placed in the woman's uterus by a specialist with special tubes. No side effects are observed at this stage and the woman does not experience any pain. After this application is completed, the use of hormone medications is continued. These medications do not cause any side effects. However, as in the stimulation phase of the eggs, they can cause fluid retention in the body.
Monitoring the development of pregnancy: After the embryos are placed in the uterus, a waiting period is passed. The purpose of this is to determine whether the pregnancy has been achieved. After approximately two weeks, a blood test is performed on the woman to determine pregnancy. If pregnancy has not occurred as a result of this test, the in vitro fertilization treatment is terminated. If pregnancy has been achieved, the woman is given progesterone treatment. The purpose of this is to prevent possible miscarriages during pregnancy. The subsequent stages include pregnancy follow-ups, as in normal pregnancies.
What are the factors that will affect IVF treatment?
No eggs in the mother candidate: The absence of eggs in the mother candidate can usually be the case if the mother candidate is at an advanced age during the treatment. The reason for this is that due to the low egg capacity, even if the follicles are sufficiently mature, the woman cannot obtain eggs during the egg collection phase. In the event of this problem, IVF treatment cannot be continued.
Lack of fertilization: In the absence of fertilization, which is considered one of the factors that can affect the treatment, the problem of not being able to obtain an embryo despite the use of healthy eggs and sperm is experienced. It is accepted that the sperm obtained from the semen has a 75% chance of fertilizing the eggs. In sperm obtained using the TESE method, the egg can be fertilized at a rate of 55%. If this fertilization is not achieved, the embryo transfer process cannot be continued and the in vitro fertilization treatment is terminated.
Problems that may occur during transfer: This problem in treatment is that embryo transfer cannot be performed in some patients due to abnormalities in the structure of the uterus. When this problem occurs in treatment, the pregnancy rate decreases significantly.
In case of no sperm: If the TESE method is used, sperm may not be obtained in every man. In cases where sperm cannot be obtained, IVF treatment cannot be continued.
Bleeding before the pregnancy test: If bleeding occurs during the waiting period of the treatment, that is, before the pregnancy test, the IVF treatment cannot be continued, as it means that there is no pregnancy.
Overstimulation of the eggs: This problem is frequently experienced during IVF treatment. Such problems occur more often in patients with polycystic ovaries . Due to overstimulation of the eggs, the dosage of the drugs used by the woman should be reduced. In addition, some patients may need to take a break from using the drugs for a while. In case of overstimulation of the eggs, the woman may experience effects such as clotting problems, difficulty breathing, pain and bloating in the abdomen, excessive growth in the ovaries, decreased urine volume, and fluid accumulation in the chest cavity and abdomen. These are among the factors that may affect IVF treatment.
How long does IVF treatment take?
Excluding the examinations before the start of the IVF treatment and the doctor's evaluation of the couple, it takes approximately 15 days. Since the role of male patients in the treatment is only to donate sperm, the treatment takes 10 minutes for them. The procedures applied to women are completed within 10 days. However, women are not continuously treated during this process. This process is a period when the woman is monitored. In the initial phase of the treatment, the woman's ovaries are stimulated with hormone drugs to try to obtain more eggs. The eggs obtained are collected, fertilized with sperm taken from the man and an embryo is obtained. With the completion of the embryo transfer, the IVF treatment is completed in a total of 15 days.
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