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IVF is a popular and highly successful fertility treatment where eggs are combined with sperm outside of the body in a lab. The resulting fertilized embryos are then inserted into the uterus, hopefully resulting in a successful pregnancy. At NYU Langone Fertility Center (NYULFC), we provide top-rated IVF treatment and other fertility care. Learn more about the IVF process and how you can get started today.
NYULFC is a leader in the fertility field, providing compassionate and efficient treatment for over 25 years. Our center is highly rated and recognized nationally and around the world for our cutting-edge fertility technology, our on-site laboratory, and personalized, patient-centered care. Our physicians have over 175 years of combined experience, and we’ve proudly welcomed over 17,000 babies and counting. We’d be honored to help you build your family.
IVF has proven to be a highly effective solution for many patients who cannot conceive on their own, whether because of medical or situational factors, including:
IVF is a multi-step process that takes around 4 to 5 weeks in total. It starts with an initial consultation at our clinic. During your visit, one of our expert fertility doctors will meet with you to discuss your family-building goals. We'll also perform diagnostic testing (including bloodwork, ultrasound, and semen analysis, if appropriate) to evaluate your reproductive health and determine whether IVF is a suitable treatment for you.
The more mature eggs you have, the better your chance of IVF success. During the stimulation phase, you'll self-inject hormonal medications for 8 to 14 days to induce the ovaries to produce many mature eggs. Our team will monitor you regularly to observe the growth of follicles within the ovaries. When your follicles reach the right size, we'll schedule a trigger shot. This hormonal injection triggers your eggs to mature for collection. The trigger shot occurs roughly 36 hours before your egg retrieval.
Before the egg retrieval procedure, you'll be given medication to help you relax and alleviate discomfort. We'll first use an ultrasound device to locate your follicles. Then, we'll insert a thin needle connected to a suction device to collect the eggs from the follicles. We can remove multiple eggs in about 20 minutes.
We typically collect sperm for the IVF process before the egg retrieval procedure. We ask the male partner to abstain from sex for two to five days before collection, which is generally achieved through masturbation.
Immediately after eggs have been retrieved, our embryology team assesses the maturity of each egg, then transfers the mature eggs to an incubator. Typically, sperm are then combined with the eggs and fertilization occurs naturally. If low sperm count or motility are a factor, our embryologists can employ intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to inject a single sperm directly into each egg. If a sperm sample is considered “borderline,” some eggs may be injected while others are given the chance to fertilize naturally in the petri dish.
Approximately 18 hours after the egg and sperm are combined in the incubator, the embryology team evaluates the successful fertilization of each mature egg. The embryology team then monitors embryo development for an additional 2 to 4 days to assess the shape and appearance of cells within the embryo (morphology). Embryos typically remain in observation in the laboratory for a total of 5 days.
If you wish to perform preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), embryos will be biopsied, then frozen while a culture of cells is sent to the genetic testing lab for analysis. PGT is a screening test that can ensure that the embryo selected for transfer has the correct number of chromosomes, reducing the chances for a failed IVF cycle or miscarriage.
After an egg retrieval and embryo creation cycle, you’ll discuss the quantity and quality of your embryos with your physician. There are two types of embryo transfer: fresh or frozen. In a fresh embryo transfer cycle, an embryo is transferred to the uterus after 5 days of observation in the embryology laboratory, and any additional embryos are frozen for future use.
In a frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycle, all embryos are frozen after 5 days of development in the laboratory. If you wish to perform preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), embryos will be biopsied, then frozen while a culture of cells is sent to the genetic testing lab for analysis. Whether you proceed with a fresh embryo transfer or an FET, the embryo transfer process itself is very simple, and rarely requires sedation or anesthesia.
The luteal phase, also known as the "two-week wait," is the period of time between ovulation and menstruation. For IVF patients, it's the waiting period between embryo transfer and taking a pregnancy test. Luteal support can help increase the success rate of implantation. After egg retrieval, we may instruct you to take progesterone, progestins, hCG, or GnRH agonists.
NYU Langone Fertility Center has partnered with Freedom Fertility Pharmacy to deliver online injection training videos to our patients. Your physician and care team will determine the type and quantity of medications appropriate for your individual treatment cycle. These training videos serve as a guide to self-administering the medications prescribed by your NYU Langone Fertility Center care team. Please find videos here in English and Spanish demonstrating how to self-administer various types of fertility medications.
Self-pay starts at $16,800 for an IVF cycle, which includes ultrasounds, blood monitoring, retrieval, conventional insemination, embryo culture, embryo transfer, cryopreservation of embryos, and one year of storage. Self-pay for an IVG cycle with genetic testing starts at $19,600.
While every patient experiences IVF differently, it's typically not a painful experience. Some patients describe discomfort while injecting themselves with IVF medications, while others don’t. Our fertility care team will give you the advice and guidance you need to make the injections as painless as possible. As for the egg retrieval procedure, common side effects include abdominal cramping and bloating. However, these side effects shouldn’t be debilitating and will most likely resemble menstrual cramps and bloating.
New York is one of the few states with laws regarding fertility insurance coverage. According to New York state law, group policy insurance providers must provide coverage for diagnostic tests and procedures related to fertility evaluation, including blood tests, ultrasounds, laparoscopy, endometrial biopsy, and more. Large group insurance providers (e.g. 100+ employees) must provide up to three cycles of IVF. If an insurance plan provides coverage for prescription drugs, it must also cover any medications used for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility. Furthermore, insurance providers are prohibited from denying coverage based on age, marital status, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. However, individual, small group, and self-insured markets are exempt from these requirements. These large groups have to have policies written in NY and must be fully-funded plans (self-funded ERISA plans are excluded for IVF).
IVF success depends on several factors, but generally, it’s most successful for patients 35 and younger. However, many patients in their late 30s and early 40s are able to successfully get pregnant through IVF.
On average, most patients undergo two or three rounds of IVF before successfully conceiving. According to 2020 data from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), first embryo transfers on first IVF attempts resulted in only 23.7% live births for women under the age of 35 and 0.8% live births for women over 42. Comparatively, women under 35 undergoing subsequent embryo transfers using frozen embryos resulted in 49.6% live births, and women over 42 in the same group resulted in 30.7% live births.
IVF is an exciting process that can make your dreams of parenthood come true. At NYU Langone Fertility Center, our team of top-rated experts can help you navigate IVF and maximize your chances of pregnancy success. Contact us today for more information or to schedule an appointment.
