The CRP is a satellite clinic, we work in partnership with Kings fertility unit.
IVF (In-vitro fertilsation) is a common treatment for people who are unable to conceive naturally. The woman has fertility hormones to stimulate the ovaries to produce several follicles which contain eggs. The eggs are then collected from the ovaries under sedation and mixed with sperm in a laboratory, this occurs at our partnership unit at Kings fertility unit. During this mixing, fertilisation occurs, which is when the sperm joins with the egg, to form an embryo. If fertilisation is successful, the embryos are allowed to develop for between 2-6 days in an incubator. The embryologist will select the strongest embryo which is then transferred back into the woman’s womb to hopefully continue to a successful birth. If more than one good quality embryo, it is normally best practice to freeze the remaining embryos for future use if your first cycle is unsuccessful or you wish to try for another baby.
Standard IVF is carried out when the sperm quality is “normal”. If there are issues with the sperm quality such as low motility or numbers, a procedure called intracytoplasmic injection (ICSI) may be used instead. This procedure involves the selection of a good sperm and directly injecting it into the egg. Sometimes there are issues with the sperm DNA fragmentation which may indicate a different procedure such as IMSI or PESA. This is where an embryologist would do specific procedures to help in the process of fertilisation. If there are no sperm, then it may be possible to do surgical sperm retrieval and freezing the sperm prior to starting the cycle then performing ICSI on the day.
We are launching the EngagedMD platform that allows electronic patient signing of all IVF/IUI forms to make their life easier.