Egg retrieval is an important part of IVF and egg freezing

Whether you’re considering IVF for a baby now or egg freezing for a baby later, egg retrieval will be incorporated into your treatment at Innovative Fertility Center. Mark Rispler MD and Joshua J. Berger MD, PhD treat patients at our Los Angeles fertility center. Prior to making treatment plans, we will help you fully understand what is involved with this procedure.

When undergoing IVF or egg freezing, ovulation induction always occurs before this procedure

At our Los Angeles fertility center, your doctor will prescribe fertility medications to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs. You will typically need to take medications for ovarian stimulation for one to two weeks before you are ready for egg retrieval.

To determine when your eggs are ready for retrieval, your doctor will use vaginal ultrasound measurements and blood test results.

Egg retrieval is a multi-step medical procedure performed by our IVF doctor

Once your doctor determines that you’re ready for egg retrieval, you will self-administer a shot to trigger maturation of your eggs. Then, approximately 36 hours later, you will return to our Los Angeles fertility center to undergo the procedure.

• Before the procedure begins, you will receive pain medication and anesthesia to keep you sedated throughout the procedure.
• The most common method for retrieval is transvaginal ultrasound aspiration. During the procedure, your doctor will insert an ultrasound probe into your vagina to locate the egg-containing follicles in your ovaries.
• Your doctor will then use a thin needle threaded through the ultrasound guide and into the follicles. The needle is connected to a suction device, which is used to remove the mature eggs.

What happens next depends upon whether you’re visiting our Los Angeles fertility center for IVF or egg freezing.

• If you’re planning to undergo IVF, your mature eggs will be placed in a culture medium and incubated before they are combined with your partner’s or donor’s sperm.
• If you’re undergoing egg retrieval for egg freezing, your eggs will be prepared for frozen storage, cryopreservation.

The egg retrieval procedure usually only takes about 20 minutes. After the procedure, you may experience cramping or a feeling of pressure; however, these side effects are usually mild and resolve on their own.

Egg retrieval is an important part of IVF and egg freezing. If you would like more information, please contact Innovative Fertility Center today.