Ovarian Stimulation
The probability for a pregnancy is increased by the development of multiple embryos.
Furthermore, not all the oocytes are fertilized in vitro. Consequently, in order to have more embryos, your ovaries are hormonally induced to produce more oocytes than just one (which is the norm).
The drugs for ovulation induction vary.
The drugs used in the first phase (Suppresion phase) prevent the mixture of your natural hormones interfering with the hormones in the induced cycle.
These drugs suppress your own hormones to give us better control of your cycle and can be in the form of nasal sprays or daily injection starting on the 20th day of your period or the 2nd day of your treatment cycle.
The next phase is the Stimulation phase which uses daily injections of pure Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) to induce multiple oocyte development.
(A variant includes the use of a medicine known as Cetrotide or Ganirelix (Orgalutran) that is given with the form of an injection during infusions of FSH in order to prevent natural ovulation).
There is NOT a standardized therapy. Your doctor will individualize your treatment according to your requirements and this treatment may vary according to the results of blood examinations and ultrasounds.
The number of blood tests that are required varies according to the method of ovulation induction. These blood tests determine the ideal time when the oocyte pick up should occur.
Finally, oocyte maturation is induced by the injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and the oocyte retrieval is scheduled 36 hours afterwards.
