Who qualifies for IVF?
When IVF was first attempted, its application was limited to women with absent or severely damaged fallopian tubes. Since then, applications for IVF have greatly expanded to include couples with male infertility (e.g. low sperm count, immunological infertility), patients with severe endometriosis, unexplained infertility and those with a variety of other fertility-related conditions. There are four central steps in the IVF process: induction and timing of ovulation, oocyte retrieval, fertilization and embryo transfer. A description of each follows. Induction and timing of ovulation One of the most important steps in IVF involves obtaining eggs immediately prior to ovulation. Patients are prescribed ovulation-inducing medications (e.g. Repronex, Gonal F, Follistim, etc.) to promote the simultaneous maturation of eggs. Patients typically begin taking ovulation-inducing medications within the first six days of their cycle, depending on the length of their natural cycle. Three or four days
