IVF is an effective treatment for infertility caused by various reasons.
IVF (and ICSI) is a fertility treatment where the egg is fertilized outside the body in a laboratory. This treatment method is the most effective in treating infertility. We utilize it when the chance of pregnancy with other treatment options is low. It is suitable for most causes of infertility and offers many couples and single women the best possibility of having a child.
You can start your fertility journey at Ovumia clinics without a referral or waiting time.
In IVF treatment, the woman’s egg is fertilized with a man’s sperm in a laboratory rather than naturally inside the body. The fertilized egg develops into an embryo, which is cultured in a laboratory incubator for 2–5 days before being transferred to the uterus to start a pregnancy. Not all fertilized eggs develop into an embryo that can be transferred in to the uterus.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is recommended for individuals and couples when other fertility treatments have not led to pregnancy or when specific medical conditions make natural conception difficult or impossible.
IVF may be suitable if:
Before starting IVF treatment, every patient or couple undergoes a thorough medical evaluation to ensure that IVF is the most appropriate option for their individual situation.
During a normal menstrual cycle, one egg matures and is released from a woman's ovaries, and the other follicles that have started to grow atrophy. For in vitro fertilization, we give the woman hormone treatment, which helps several follicles to grow and develop and the eggs they contain to mature to be capable of fertilization.
Hormone treatment is tailored individually and usually lasts about 2 weeks. The hormone injection pen is easy and safe to use. The progress of the treatment is carefully monitored with ultrasound and, if necessary, blood tests. During the treatment, you can live a fairly normal life and go to work. As the egg collection approaches, it is common for the lower abdomen to feel swollen and there may be associated sensations. At this point, you should avoid significant physical exercise and sports.
How are mature eggs collected from the ovarian follicles? We perform the procedure with a thin needle under ultrasound guidance through the vagina. During the collection, we admister intravenous pain relief and local anaesthesia to the vaginal wall. All the follicles are emptied so that all the maturing eggs can be collected for fertilization. The most significant factor affecting the number of eggs collected is the woman's age.
The collection takes about 15-30 minutes. After the egg collection, we monitor the woman's recovery at the clinic for a few hours. At the same time, we continue to ensure that she receives sufficient pain medication if needed. Depending on the situation, you can take 1-3 days of sick leave. You are not allowed to drive for 24 hours after the procedure due to the strong pain medication used during the collection.
The fertilization at Ovumia is performed in particularly clean laboratory conditions by placing the eggs and the sperm in a culture dish. We culture the embryos in the laboratory in a special culture cabinet, the temperature, humidity and other conditions of which are precisely regulated to resemble the conditions of the female reproductive system.
We monitor fertilization and embryo development step by step. Usually, an average of 70% of the eggs are fertilized normally. Approximately 30–50% of the fertilized eggs develop into good-quality embryos. We select the best embryo for fresh transfer following a cultgure of 3-5 days. We freeze the remaining good-quality embryos for later embryo transfers. On average, 30–40% of fresh embryo transfers lead to clinical pregnancy.
ICSI (intra cytoplasmic sperm injection) is used in carefully selected cases, typically if the sperm count is very low or there is reason to suspect that conventional IVF fertilization will not work normally. In ICSI fertilization, a single sperm is injected directly into the egg under microscope guidance. ICSI is particularly effective when infertility is caused by the man, i.e. the number or quality of sperm is poor.
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection only involves the fertilization of eggs, hormone treatment and egg collection are carried out in the same way as in conventional in vitro fertilization treatment. We isolate motile sperm from the man's semen sample for microinjection. In intracytoplasmic sperm injection, we facilitate fertilization by introducing a single sperm into a mature egg using a thin glass needle. We monitor the fertilization of the eggs and the development of the embryos in the same way as in conventional in vitro fertilization. Microinjection fertilization treatments achieve treatment results that are equivalent to in vitrofertilization treatments.
We check the fertilization of the eggs 16–20 hours after the gametes have been brought together. The embryos are usually grown in the laboratory for 5 days, at which point the embryo reaches the blastocyst stage. Embryo transfer is also possible at the division stage, when the best two-day-old embryos have 4 cells and three-day-old embryos consist of 8 cells, respectively.
We always plan the embryo culture individually, taking into account the client's treatment history.
Embryo transfer is a procedure in which we transfer a 2–5-day-old embryo into the uterine cavity. We transfer the embryo under ultrasound guidance using a special transfer catheter. In order to avoid multiple pregnancies, we always transfer a single embry. Hormone therapy continues after the embryo transfer, administered vaginally.
Often there is more than one good-quality embryo. In that case, we freeze the remaining embryos. Frozen and thawed embryos can be transferred if the pregnancy has not started from a fresh embryo transfer, or after childbirth, when a sibling is desired in the family.
A pregnancy test is performed two weeks after the embryo transfer. If the pregnancy test is positive, the first ultrasound examination is performed approximately five weeks after the embryo transfer at Ovumia or in the home town. If the pregnancy has progressed normally, pregnancy monitoring continues at the maternity clinic.
Starting IVF treatment begins with booking an initial consultation, which you can easily arrange online or by phone. During your first visit, your medical history will be carefully reviewed, necessary examinations and tests will be planned, and a personalized treatment plan will be created based on your individual fertility goals.
The cost of IVF can vary widely depending on factors such as the clinic’s location, the services included in the treatment package, and any additional procedures that may be required. For detailed pricing information, we encourage you to view our price list or discuss your options during your consultation.
The outcomes of infertility treatments and the well-being of children born from these treatments are monitored worldwide. Studies have shown that children conceived through fertility treatments have a higher chance of structural abnormalities compared to those conceived spontaneously. The best-known risks are related to severe male infertility, which may increase the likelihood of cryptorchidism (undescended testes) and urethral structural abnormalities in male offspring. However, when comparing these findings with children conceived without treatment after a long period of trying due to reduced fertility, no similar differences have been observed. Therefore, the slightly increased risks appear to be associated more with the underlying infertility itself rather than with the fertility treatments.
If pregnancy hasn’t occurred after six months of regular trying, it’s a good idea to schedule fertility testing.
Treatment duration depends on many factors and the woman/couple’s
prognosis. After the initial evaluation, we do our best to give a realistic
estimate on how many rounds of treatments may be necessary. Especially
with the light treatment methods (ovulation induction and
insemination), it’s important to understand that the treatment typically may need to be
repeated. With IVF, it may also take several cycles or embryo transfers
before a successful pregnancy is achieved.
In Finland, there is no legal age limit for fertility treatments. At Ovumia clinics in Finland, we treat women under the age of 47. At
our Ovumia Nova Vita clinic in Tallinn, we treat women under the age of 51.
Up to 80–85% of our patients receive help from our fertility treatments. The success rate varies and depends mainly on the woman’s age. Our doctors choose treatment options based on your individual needs to maximize your chances of having a child.
Your doctor will determine the most suitable treatment method after a thorough consultation. During the initial consultation, we
assess possible factors for infertility and perform thorough a medical examination and ultrasound. For men, we recommend a semen analysis if one has never been performed or it has been done over a year ago.
In Ovumia, we are always ready to help you!
