IVF - or test-tube treatment
With test-tube treatment, fertilisation takes place outside the body, and the fertilised eggs are then transferred back into the woman’s uterus.

During normal IVF treatment, the eggs are removed by suction from the mature egg follicles in the ovaries after hormone treatment, and 2-3 days later 1-2 of the fertilised eggs are transferred to the uterus. Hormone therapy then commences in the form of injections or vaginal suppositories.

The woman can leave the clinic immediately after the egg transfer. Fourteen days after the transfer, a blood sample is taken to reveal whether or not the woman is pregnant. Before this, her hormone levels are checked here at the clinic with one or two blood tests.

Conventional IVF treatment
With conventional IVF treatment, the eggs are cultivated in small tubes (test tubes) with 1 egg per tube in 0.4 ml nutritional liquid, to which 50,000-100,000 purified sperm cells are added. Fresh sperm is used after ejaculation on the same day that the eggs are removed, or frozen and thawed sperm is used that has been frozen immediately after ejaculation. This is used when the man has a normal or only slightly reduced sperm quality.

Natural IVF – in other words, IVF treatment in a natural cycle without hormone stimulation. The results are not good, and although this is not normally recommended, it can be used in selected and unique cases.

Incubation
In connection with these methods, we sometimes choose to let the eggs and sperm cells remain together for 16-18 hours. In other cases, we remove the eggs from the sperm cell suspension after just 1 hour, and in some situations after 3 hours. This is based on an individual assessment in each case, depending on sperm quality, for example.

Diagnostic IVF
Often we advise couples to use several of the IVF methods mentioned in combination to reveal which method works best for them in particular. The method can then be selected and used in later treatments if necessary. With diagnostic IVF it is also possible to fertilise a few eggs with donor sperm to establish whether there are problems with the quality of the eggs or sperm. This is often difficult to establish in another manner during the actual treatment if only a few or no eggs are fertilised.