In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is a procedure whereby a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm are placed together in the laboratory for fertilisation outside the body.
Before this, the woman is given medications to stimulate her ovaries to produce more eggs than she normally would. The eggs are collected through a simple surgical procedure and placed in a dish. We aim to retrieve as many eggs as possible to increase the chance of a successful pregnancy and allow excess embryos to be frozen for future use. For this procedure, you will be lightly sedated.
Your partner will be asked to produce his semen sample on the day of your procedure. The semen sample is washed and concentrated to eliminate the weaker sperm, then added to the eggs about four hours after retrieval.
After a sperm has fertilised the egg, the resulting embryo is grown in the lab for 5 days before being transferred from the incubator to the individual’s uterus. The embryo transfer itself takes only a few minutes and is usually not painful. You’ll be asked to limit your activity for the first 24 hours after the transfer, and a pregnancy test will be performed two weeks after the embryo transfer.
Download Your Ultimate Guide to Bulk-Billed IVF: please click on the image below to view and download.

For more information, please download our information sheets: IVF Fact Sheet, IVF Treatment Flow Process and Why Choose First Step Fertility