IVF

The In Vitro Fertilization program at Florida Fertility Institute (FFI) is state of the art and second to none in the Tampa Bay area.

All aspects of IVF are represented. Including: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), Donor eggs, Assisted hatching, Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and much more. FFI’s pregnancy rates continue to be among the best in the country. Our skilled, professional, and personable staff will guide you step by step through the IVF process.

IVF-ET is probably the most well known of the “Assisted Reproductive Technologies”. It is otherwise known as “test tube baby”, and has helped infertile couples conceive and bear children for over two decades. These days, fertilization actually occurs in a petri dish, and not a test tube. It was originally developed to help couples overcome tubal factor infertility, but has become useful in treating other factors, such as immunological problems, unexplained infertility, and male factor infertility.

IVF is basically a four-step process. First, you take medications to make multiple follicles begin to develop on the ovaries. This step is referred to as ovarian stimulation, or superovulation. Step two involves monitoring follicular growth by ultrasound, to determine egg growth and uterine lining development. When it is determined that the follicles and the uterine lining are appropriately mature, a trigger shot is then administered. 36 hours after the trigger shot, the third step begins with retrieval of the eggs by ultrasound-guided-needle aspiration, an in-office procedure. A sperm specimen is then washed and prepared for insemination. The washed sperm is then placed in a dish with the eggs, and they are placed in an incubator for 18 hours. After 18 hours, the embryos are observed for normal fertilization. The embryos are then incubated for further development into multi-cell embryos.

The fourth and final step involves transferring the embryos into the uterine cavity via a catheter inserted through the cervix. The number of embryos transferred varies with the desires of the patient, under the guidelines of age, use of PGT, medical history and various other factors. Additional embryos may be frozen and stored for future use.