A few days after the oocytes are retrieved and fertilized in our laboratory, you will come to our office for the embryo transfer procedure. Embryo transfer is a simple technique and anesthesia is not required. On the day of transfer, you, your partner, and our specialist will discuss the number of embryos being transferred, as well as their quality and grade.

During the actual procedure, a long, thin catheter containing the embryos and a small amount of fluid is passed through your cervix into your uterus, where the embryos are placed.

Conventional embryo transfer is performed three days after the donor's egg retrieval when healthy embryos (Day 3 embryos) reach the 6-8 cell stage. Blastocysts are embryos that have advanced to 30-60 cells and are transferred five days after retrieval.

If you have a large number of good quality embryos on day 3, we may recommend that you wait 2 days and have a blastocyst transfer on day 5. During the two additional days, some embryos will not progress and others should continue to develop. It is felt that the embryos that survive and progress during this time will be most likely to survive in the uterus. Thus, blastocyst culture is a tool that allows the embryologists and physicians to select the "best" embryos for transfer.

Additionally, blastocyst transfer allows the number of embryos transferred to be kept to a minimum, which reduces the chance for multiple births, while still giving you an excellent chance for conceiving. Transfer on day 3 is still recommended if there are a low number of "good" embryos on day 3.

Following the embryo transfer, you must limit certain activities and continue required medications. In five days, a blood test is done to monitor your hormone levels. A pregnancy test is taken 9 to 11 days after the embryo transfer, and will determine whether the procedure was successful.

Embryo Cryopreservation

Sometimes during the IVF process extra embryos develop during your cycle. If the embryos are of acceptable quality, they can be frozen and stored for future transfer. Since the IVF process can be difficult both physically and financially, cryopreservation helps facilitate treatment of infertility while also reducing the cost.