Trying to conceive by natural methods and not succeeding is not only frustrating, but also painful and exhausting. For many women, it can mean the end of their desires and a renunciation of motherhood. However, they should know that there are other alternatives that can be done in order to conceive their own child and carry the pregnancy to term. One of them is embryo transfer, which can be performed right here in Spain and with a high success rate. That is what we will talk about on this occasion, what embryo transfer is, how it is performed and where.
Assisted reproduction to achieve pregnancy
In the past, when a woman, for whatever reason, was unable to conceive naturally, she had only three options: keep trying, adopt or give up. With technological advances, assisted reproduction emerged, which encompasses various treatments and specialised techniques to achieve pregnancy by alternative methods to the natural way. The problem may be due to infertility, either male or female or both, but there are also cases of sterility of unknown origin, which complicates matters further.
Nowadays, thanks to assisted reproductive techniques, not only heterosexual couples are helped to conceive, but also single people or homosexual couples. These techniques include artificial insemination, in vitro fertilisation, as well as ovodonation, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, the ROPA method and frozen embryo transfer. And we will talk about that today.
What does embryo transfer consist of?
Before we talk about it, let’s go back a bit and talk about in vitro fertilisation or IVF. As mentioned before, it is a method of assisted reproduction in which an egg and a sperm are joined in the laboratory to give rise to an embryo that will later be transferred and implanted in the patient’s uterus. To achieve this, a controlled ovarian stimulation is performed in order to obtain several mature eggs in a single cycle, which are then extracted by follicular puncture. The semen is prepared and fertilisation is performed, where the embryos will be cultivated and developed for their subsequent transfer.
Now, going back to the embryo transfer, it starts right where IVF left off, because those embryos that were not transferred are kept under special storage conditions, that is, at low temperatures and very well protected. When you have been through an IVF process, you understand very well why it is a delicate and very valuable process, so if not all the embryos were used, it is necessary to save them for later use. Either because pregnancy was not achieved or even if it was successful, if you want to get pregnant again they are ready for implantation.
Therefore, embryo transfer consists of depositing the embryos in the uterus so that they can be implanted and the pregnancy can take place under the best possible conditions.
Does an embryo transfer hurt?
Not at all. The embryo transfer is carried out in a room next to the laboratory where the frozen embryos are kept to avoid any type of alteration as much as possible. It is a quick, simple and painless process, so much so that it does not require anaesthesia. Of course, before the procedure, the state of the embryos is checked to select the best quality and most viable embryos for a successful pregnancy.
When is it best to do an embryo transfer?
In addition to the quality of the embryos to be transferred, it is important that the patient is in optimal health, the state of the endometrium and its level of receptivity must be verified, so it must be thickened and perfect. To this end, she will receive medication beforehand to guarantee correct embryo implantation. This may be at the zygote stage, on the second day of embryo development or when it is already a morula.
Under the guidance of an ultrasound scanner, the obstetrician will perform the embryo transfer. The number of embryos to be transferred can be up to three, but preferably one to two is suggested. You will be rested for several minutes before you can get up and leave, and relative rest is recommended for the following days. After two weeks, a pregnancy test will be performed.
NOVA FIV: Achieve your dream pregnancy with us
We are an assisted reproductive clinic in Jerez with the most cutting-edge treatments and techniques to achieve that pregnancy that has not been able to materialise. We have specialists in reproductive medicine and in our clinic we have all the infrastructure, conditions and equipment necessary to achieve your pregnancy from beginning to end without having to go anywhere else.
We are located in Calle Jaén, local 2, Travesía de Gualdalcacín, in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz. You can call us on 645 96 01 30 / 956 15 82 25 or email us at hola@novafiv.com. You can also fill in the contact form with your details and we will be happy to contact you as soon as possible. Our first fertility consultation is free, there we will evaluate you and discuss the best options to achieve your pregnancy, as well as answer all your questions about assisted reproduction.
