Is it painful for women to have IVF?

I believe everyone knows that women need to meet several conditions to get pregnant, but it is also very common to have normal pregnancies due to various reasons. But there is a good way, which is in vitro fertilization, but is it painful for women to have in vitro fertilization? In vitro fertilization involves taking out eggs and combining them with sperm, then placing them back into the uterus after successful artificial cultivation. This process can be painful.

1. In vitro fertilization

The in vitro fertilization technology is to take both eggs and sperm outside the body, allow them to complete the fertilization process in an artificially controlled environment outside the body, and then transplant the early embryo into the woman's uterus to grow into a child in the uterus.

2. Is IVF painful?

The best way to understand whether IVF is painful or not is to watch the process.

Ovulation induction therapy

On the second day of the menstrual cycle, or after satisfactory GnRH agonist suppression (reproductive hormones and uterine and ovarian ultrasound examination results meet the requirements), women begin to use ovulation-inducing drugs. The doctor judges the growth of follicles based on the results of ultrasound monitoring and serum hormone measurements and decides whether the dosage of ovulation-inducing drugs needs to be adjusted. When the follicles are mature, hCG injection is given to promote the final maturation of the egg. Egg retrieval is usually done 36-38 hours after hCG injection.

Egg retrieval

Under the guidance of B-ultrasound, the doctor uses a special egg retrieval needle to puncture the mature follicles through the vagina and suck out the eggs. Egg retrieval is usually performed under intravenous anesthesia, so the woman does not feel any pain from the puncture.

In vitro fertilization

Sperm retrieval: While the female retrieves the eggs, the male retrieves the sperm. After the semen has gone through a special washing process, the sperm and egg are placed in a special culture medium in the hope of natural combination. This is called conventional fertilization.

Embryo transfer

A few days after fertilization, a very thin embryo transfer tube is used to transfer the best embryo into the mother's uterus through the cervix. The number of embryos to be transferred is determined based on age, embryo quality and previous IVF outcomes. Usually 2-3 embryos are transferred. In recent years, in order to reduce the multiple pregnancy rate, some centers have chosen to transfer a single embryo, or a maximum of 2 embryos.

Because the embryo transfer tube is very thin and the doctor's movements are gentle, the patient usually does not feel any pain.

Luteal Support

Due to the use of GnRH agonists/antagonists and ovulation-inducing drugs, as well as the loss of granulosa cells caused by oocyte retrieval, women usually have luteal insufficiency during the oocyte retrieval cycle and need to use progesterone and/or chorionic gonadotropin for luteal supplementation/support. If pregnancy is not present, stop taking progesterone and wait for menstruation to occur. If pregnancy occurs, progesterone should be continued, usually until 3 weeks after the fetal heartbeat is seen on ultrasound.

Confirmation of pregnancy

Serum HCG is measured 14 days after embryo transfer to determine whether pregnancy is present. Serum HCG is measured again 21 days after embryo transfer to understand the development of the embryo. A transvaginal ultrasound examination is performed 30 days after embryo transfer to confirm whether there is intrauterine pregnancy and the presence of fetal heartbeat.

To sum up, generally speaking, IVF will not cause much pain to women. But everyone's physical condition is different, so just follow your doctor's advice.

Through the introduction in this article, we can know that in vitro fertilization will still cause women to suffer some pain. But in order to have a healthy and smart baby, many women can endure these pains. If you want to have IVF, you must be prepared to endure some hardships.