What is IVF, and how can Flo be useful during this process?

IVF stands for in-vitro fertilization, and in-vitro fertilization is one type of assisted reproductive technology. It uses a combination of medicines and procedures to help sperm fertilize an egg outside the body in a test tube. The resulting embryo is inserted into the uterus in order to achieve pregnancy. 

During IVF treatment, you take fertility drugs to stimulate your ovaries to release more eggs. Then, a specialist retrieves the eggs from your ovaries, using an ultrasound-guided needle through your vaginal wall. Once the eggs are retrieved, the specialist incubates them with sperm from your partner or a donor. One or two healthy embryos are then transferred to your uterus. When you’re discussing the procedure beforehand, you and the specialist will decide together on how many embryos to transfer. It usually takes several months to complete the entire process. Some people get pregnant on the first try, and others need more than one round of IVF.

You can find IVF-related content in your Insights in Flo — just type IVF in the search bar. We also offer a video course on fertility assistance. It can be found under the Trying for Some Time - Is Everything OK? category. Unfortunately, there isn’t an option to log IVF-treatments or embryo transfer at the moment. If you have suggestions of how we can make Flo more helpful for people doing IVF, please tap the Contact us button at the bottom of the page and share your ideas with us.