What Happens the Day of the Egg Retrieval?
The couple arrives at our clinic on the day of egg retrieval. The male provides a semen specimen for use in the IVF cycle. Once the eggs are retrieved they are placed in petri dishes and exposed to the sperm. If the semen quality warrants it, individual sperm are injected directly into the eggs through a process known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The inseminated eggs are placed in an incubator where they remain for 3-5 days. The couple returns to the clinic where the physician discusses the number and quality of the embryos available for transfer or freezing. Since multiple pregnancies are highly likely with egg donation, we often recommend transferring two embryos to the uterus. The remaining viable embryos can be frozen for future use. The embryos are placed into the recipient mother’s uterus using a small catheter in a painless procedure, using sonogram guidance.
