Ovulation Induction for IVF Enables Patients to Begin Their Journey to Parenthood

Assisting patients in creating or expanding their families is our primary mission. For more than 30 years. David T. Vandermolen MD, MS, our Northern Louisiana fertility clinic expert, has helped thousands of couples and individuals achieve their dreams through advanced reproduction technology. Often, Dr. Vandermolen employs ovulation induction for IVF as part of a detailed infertility treatment plan to help people become parents. Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, or supraovulation, a higher level of stimulation than ovulation induction for patients with anovulation or who don’t ovulate, produces higher follicle and oocyte numbers to improve IVF pregnancy rates.

How IVF works

In some cases, Dr. Vandermolen will start with other infertility treatment, such as fertility medicines, timed intercourse and intrauterine insemination (IUI). If these initial therapies don’t produce results, or if a diagnosis requires it, he may recommend moving to IVF, or in vitro fertilization. The IVF process involves several steps.

• Ovulation induction with IVF to produce a high number of eggs
• Egg retrieval to extract multiple eggs from the ovaries
• Fertilization of the eggs with sperm, performed by skilled embryologists in our IVF lab
• Growth of the embryos in the lab and evaluation to select the highest-quality embryo
• Transfer of the embryo back to the uterus, so that implantation and pregnancy can occur

Fertility medications and ovulation induction for IVF

With ovulation induction for IVF, you will need to take fertility medications as part of the treatment process. These injectable medications, called gonadotropins, contain follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and/or luteinizing hormone (LH). During a normal cycle, a woman releases one egg for fertilization. The gonadotropins stimulate your ovaries so that they produce multiple mature eggs during one cycle.

Typical treatment using ovulation induction for IVF begins with a sonogram and blood tests at the beginning of your cycle. Once things look good to go, you will start injections of the gonadotropins, usually for eight to 10 days. Over this period, we will monitor your progress in the office every two to three days with additional blood work and ultrasounds.

To maximize the odds for pregnancy, the eggs needed to be removed just before they would be released from the ovaries. As soon as the follicles mature, usually at 17 to 18 millimeters in diameter, we will instruct you to take a trigger shot that stimulates ovulation. Dr. Vandermolen will perform the egg retrieval 35 hours after the trigger shot.

Your home for infertility treatment

Undergoing infertility treatment can feel overwhelming. At ArkLaTex Fertility, Dr. Vandermolen and our team will offer unwavering support along the way. Take the first step and contact our Northern Louisiana fertility clinic for more information about ovulation induction for IVF.