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In the US, 42% of adults have used fertility treatments themselves or know someone who has.
And some of them used IVF, a fertility treatment that’s helped over one million hopeful parents grow their families.
Considering IVF treatment for yourself but wondering how long it’ll take?
We get it. IVF is a complex process. But the better you understand it, the more you’ll know whether it’s a good fit for growing your family.
In this article, we’ll break down the entire IVF timeline from start to finish, as well as IVF success rates, costs, and more.
What is IVF?
IVF, short for in vitro fertilization, is a type of fertility treatment where an egg is fertilized by sperm in a lab.
During IVF, the ovaries are stimulated to produce a batch of eggs. A fertility doctor then retrieves the eggs and sends them to a lab, where they’re fertilized by sperm.
Once fertilized, the lab monitors the embryos as they continue growing. The healthiest embryo is then transferred back into the uterus. The embryo keeps developing–and if all goes well (fingers crossed), nine months later, a baby is born.
What are the steps in IVF?
We’ll take a deep dive into the IVF process in the next section. But for now, here’s a brief overview of IVF to help you get the gist.
There are 5 main steps to IVF:
- Ovarian stimulation. In this phase, a woman takes hormone medications to stimulate the ovaries to grow several eggs.
- Egg retrieval. Once the eggs have matured, a fertility doctor removes the eggs from the ovaries.
- Fertilization. Sperm is collected from either the partner or via a donor. A fertility lab then uses the sperm to fertilize the retrieved eggs.
- Embryo development. The fertility lab monitors the growing embryos for around 5-6 days. They take note of any embryos that develop into blastocysts–embryos with roughly 100 cells. This is because embryos that reach the blastocyst phase have a higher chance of implantation.
- Embryo transfer. The healthiest blastocyst is selected and transferred back into the woman’s uterus.
Now that you have a better idea of how IVF works, let’s do a detailed rundown of the IVF process step by step.
IVF timeline: How long does it take?
The timeline of IVF varies for everyone. But on average, the entire process from the first appointment to embryo transfer takes around 8-10 weeks.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of what to expect during IVF treatment:
Consultation & testing (~one month)
IVF treatment can be physically, emotionally, and financially grueling. So before starting IVF, be sure you and your partner feel ready and have the financial resources for the road ahead.
If you do feel ready, awesome! The first step is to schedule an appointment with a fertility specialist or reproductive endocrinologist. They’ll review your health history and your partner’s and conduct testing to get a full picture of your fertility.
Testing may include:
- Blood tests to check your hormone levels.
- Semen analysis to assess the male partner’s sperm count and sperm quality.
- Ovarian reserve testing to get a look at your egg reserve.
- Uterine exam to evaluate the health of your uterus.
- Screening for diseases like hepatitis, syphilis, & HIV.
Your fertility doctor will then use the results to evaluate which treatment and medications are best for you. Testing can even help estimate how many eggs you may get from an IVF cycle.
Keep in mind that women’s fertility testing must be done during the right phase of your menstrual cycle, typically on day 3.
Some doctors also prescribe birth control pills at this time (confusing, I know!). This prepares the ovaries for stimulation and sets the right timeline for IVF treatment.
Because IVF timing is precise, this may delay things depending on where you are in your cycle. As a rule, allow about a month to get all your initial testing done.
In the meantime, consider starting prenatal vitamins and optimizing your diet and lifestyle. Remember, the healthier your body is, the better your chances of pregnancy!
Learn More: Diet & Fertility: Eat Your Way to Better Baby Odds
Ovarian stimulation (cycle day 2 or 3)
Your IVF treatment cycle officially starts on day 1 of your period. Once it arrives, ovarian stimulation can begin. Here’s how it works.
Typically, in a natural menstrual cycle, your ovaries produce one egg. But during IVF treatment, you take hormone injections, which stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs. Having more eggs on hand increases the chances of fertilization success.
Hormone injections begin on day 2 or 3 of your menstrual cycle and last for around 9-14 days. Your doctor will choose your medications and dosage based on your age, health history, and test results.
Medications may include:
- Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)
- Luteinizing hormone (LH)
- Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
- Clomiphene citrate (Clomid®)
Throughout this phase, you’ll return to your fertility clinic for blood tests and ultrasounds every few days. That way, your fertility specialist and team can keep a close eye on how your follicles are developing.
Trigger shot (between cycle days 11-16)
Once your follicles are big enough, you’ll get a “trigger shot” to help the eggs ripen so they’re ready for release. Trigger shots usually consist of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), leuprolide acetate (Lupron), or a mix of both.
Trigger shots must happen 34-36 hours before your scheduled egg retrieval. This ensures your eggs can be collected before your body ovulates. So the timing is crucial here!
Egg retrieval (cycle days 13-17)
Egg retrieval, also known as egg collection, is a one-day procedure that happens at the fertility clinic or doctor’s office. You’ll be given a sedative and pain medication to prevent any discomfort.
Once sedated, your fertility specialist will do a transvaginal ultrasound to identify your follicles. Your follicles are fluid-filled sacs in your ovaries that hold the egg.
A needle will be gently guided into your ovaries to extract the eggs. Your eggs are then placed in a special solution and put in an incubator. Ideally, the goal is to retrieve between 10-20 eggs. However, this number will vary for everyone.
The entire procedure only takes around 20 minutes. You’ll rest for 30-45 minutes and then be ready to go home.
Since you’ll be coming out of sedation, it’s a good idea to have a loved one with you. That way, they can drive you home and provide emotional support. After all, it’s a big day!
Sperm collection
If you’re using your partner’s fresh sperm, they’ll be asked to provide a sample on the same day as your egg retrieval. However, if you’re using frozen or donor sperm, your fertility lab will already have it on hand.
Once your eggs are retrieved, the fertility lab fertilizes them with the sperm right away.
Embryo development (cycle days 18-22)
Your fertility clinic will call and update you on how many eggs were fertilized. Any fertilized eggs are officially dubbed embryos. The embryos continue growing in the lab over the next 5-6 days.
An embryologist closely monitors them during this time, taking note of any that reach the blastocyst stage. Typically, only about 50% of fertilized embryos reach the blastocyst stage. Your fertility team will let you know how many embryos made it there.
- Genetic testing (optional)
Before embryo transfer, you’ll be given the option to do genetic testing. This can add about 4 weeks onto the IVF timeline–but may improve the chances of IVF success.
Preimplantation genetic testing, or PGT, ensures any embryos implanted are genetically healthy. This is important, as roughly 50% of all first-trimester miscarriages are due to chromosomal abnormalities.
If you choose to do PGT testing, your embryos will be frozen until your test results come back.
- Embryo transfer (cycle days 19-23)
If you’re using fresh embryos, you’ll head back to your fertility clinic about 5-6 days after your egg collection for the embryo transfer.
If you did genetic testing and are using frozen embryos, you’ll schedule a frozen embryo transfer (FET) once you get your results.
The embryo transfer is a simple procedure, similar to a pap smear. A speculum is placed in your vagina and a catheter (thin tube) is inserted past your cervix into your uterus. A syringe holding your embryo (or embryos if you’re using more than one) is then attached to the catheter and injected.
That’s it! The procedure takes about 10 minutes and rarely requires sedation.
- Pregnancy blood test (2 weeks later)
For many, this last step is the hardest: the waiting game. For the next two weeks, you’ll wait to find out if your embryo (or embryos) implanted.
The two-week wait can be a nerve-wracking period for women who are trying to conceive. And this is no different for women trying to conceive via IVF. So keeping yourself distracted can be helpful. Take a weekend trip, schedule coffee dates, go to a movie – just keep yourself busy until it’s time to test.
If you’re feeling impatient (and who wouldn’t be), you may be tempted to jump the gun and take an early home pregnancy test. But try to resist the urge. Since IVF treatment involves hormones, home pregnancy tests may not be accurate.
About 8-14 days after your embryo transfer, you’ll return to your fertility clinic for a pregnancy blood test. This test will see if any human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (hCG) is detected. hCG is the hormone an embryo produces after implantation.
If you get a positive pregnancy test, you’ll schedule your first prenatal visit with your OBG-YN. If it comes back negative, don’t lose hope. It may take another IVF cycle or two to become pregnant. Speak with your fertility team about the next steps.
Read more: IVF Success Rates: The Factors That Affect Your Chances
What’s an IVF funnel?
One huge misconception about IVF is that the number of eggs retrieved = the number of babies. However, this isn’t true.
There are many steps to IVF. And at each stage, some eggs and embryos get lost along the way. This is known as an “IVF funnel” – and it’s why multiple eggs are retrieved, and more than one embryo is cared for.
An IVF funnel can help you understand the IVF journey better. Here’s an example…
Let’s say a woman starts an IVF cycle with 20 follicles. That doesn’t mean the doctor removes mature eggs from all of these follicles. Typically, about 30% of eggs retrieved during IVF are immature. Based on this, they may only get about 15 mature eggs.
The next hurdle is fertilization. Usually, in IVF, 70-75% of eggs are successfully fertilized. Following this math, of those 15 eggs, roughly 11 would be fertilized.
Those 11 embryos are then sent to a lab to develop. This process is tough, with only 30-50% of embryos making it to the blastocyst stage. So now, we’re down to 5 embryos.
Once embryos reach this stage, genetic testing may be done to see whether they’re “normal” or not. It varies by age, but about 50% of embryos at this stage are genetically normal.
So now, we’re left with only 3 embryos that can be implanted into the uterus. Of those, one or two are transferred. And if all goes well, hopefully, one of them implants.
IVF success rates
Age is the biggest factor in IVF success. As you know, a woman’s pool of eggs shrinks with age. Plus, egg quality starts decreasing at age 32 and sharply declines after age 37.
To break this down, here’s what the newest data from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) has to say. Keep in mind, the chart below shows live birth rates per egg retrieval–not for the first IVF cycle.
IVF cost
It’s no secret that IVF can be costly. One report from the American Society for Reproductive Technology (ASRM) states the average cost for an IVF cycle in the US is $12,400. Yet other studies estimate the average cost per cycle is closer to $20,000-$25,000.
So as you can see, it’s hard to pin down an exact cost. It’ll vary depending on your health history, medications, the fertility center you choose, and even your state.
The good news is some states have IVF mandates that require treatment to be covered by health insurance. To find out if your state is one of the lucky ones, click here.
Takeaways
- IVF is a popular type of fertility treatment where eggs are fertilized by sperm in a laboratory.
- There are 5 main stages of IVF: ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, fertilization, embryo development, and embryo transfer.
- The entire IVF process from consultation to embryo transfer takes roughly 8-10 weeks.
- During ovarian stimulation, a woman takes hormone injections for about 2 weeks. This encourages the ovaries to produce several eggs.
- These are then removed from the ovaries during an egg collection procedure.
- Once removed, the eggs are fertilized by sperm in a lab.
- After fertilization, the embryos are watched carefully for 5-6 days as they develop.
- One or two of the healthiest, biggest embryos (blastocysts) are then transferred into the woman’s uterus.
- About two weeks later, the woman takes a pregnancy blood test to see if that IVF cycle was a success.
- IVF success rates vary widely depending on your age.
- Some reports say the average cost for an IVF cycle in the US is $20,000-$25,000.
- The cost of IVF depends on your health history, fertility clinic, medication used, and where you live.
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- A growing share of Americans say they’ve had fertility treatments or know someone who has
- IVF by the Numbers – Penn Medicine
- In Vitro Fertilization – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf
- Analysis of IVF live birth outcomes with and without preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A): UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority data collection 2016–2018
- Incidence and Types of Chromosomal Abnormalities in First Trimester Spontaneous Miscarriages: a Greek Single-Center Prospective Study
- Oocyte Maturity in Relation to Woman’s Age in In Vitro Fertilization Cycles Stimulated by Single Regimen – PMC
- Fertilization rate as a novel indicator for cumulative live birth rate: a multicenter retrospective cohort study of 9,394 complete in vitro fertilization cycles – ScienceDirect
- Optimal Number of Eggs for IVF: What You Need to Know
- Female Age-Related Fertility Decline | ACOG
- SART Clinic Summary Report
- Impact of in vitro fertilization state mandates for third party insurance coverage in the United States: a review and critical assessment – PMC
- Costs of infertility treatment: Results from an 18-month prospective cohort study
