This is where it all begins. You’ll meet with a fertility specialist who will take your medical history, talk through any challenges you’ve faced, and discuss your options.

They'll likely run some tests to assess your hormone levels, ovulation, and the health of your uterus and ovaries.

Should you choose to move forward with that doctor, they will have you fill out succession information. You (and your partner) will declare what happens to your eggs and embryos in the event of incapacitation or death.

Once you're cleared to start, the first "official" step of IVF is ovarian stimulation.

You’ll begin a series of hormone injections to help your ovaries produce multiple eggs. The injections will be administered at home by none other than yourself or your partner during this experience. Check out the Medications page for basic information about common medications and a link to Progyny’s step-by-step injection walk-throughs.

This part can last about 10-14 days, and you'll have frequent visits to your clinic for monitoring (ultrasounds and blood work) to track your response.

Bring a book, podcast, or playlist to your monitoring appointments. They’re often quick, but the waiting around can make the process feel like it drags. Check out the curated playlists on Spotify to bide your time!

Once your follicles are ready, it’s time to retrieve the eggs. This is done under light sedation, so you won’t feel much. It’s a quick process that takes around 20 minutes, but it can leave you feeling a bit crampy afterward. Your doctor should give you a list of concerning bodily responses to look out for during recovery time.

Not every egg retrieved will be viable, and sometimes, the egg quality may not be ideal. It’s frustrating, but don’t lose hope.

After retrieval, your eggs will be fertilized in the lab. In some cases, this might include ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection), where a sperm is injected directly into an egg if there are concerns about sperm quality.

The embryos will be cultured for a few days (typically 3-5) to see which ones develop. At this point, your fertility team will decide which embryos are the best quality to transfer into your uterus and/or freeze. Genetic testing is available for frozen embryos.

The actual transfer process is relatively simple—think of it like a Pap smear with a catheter—and doesn’t require anesthesia.

After the transfer, you’ll wait around two weeks for a blood test to confirm if the embryo(s) implanted successfully. Your clinic may perform two blood days, two days apart, ensuring that your HcG is doubling.

This can be the toughest part of the process emotionally, as it's a mix of hope and uncertainty.

Depending on your initial blood tests, you may anticipate the need for multiple cycles.

And sometimes, unexpectedly, it can take more than one IVF cycle to get the results you want, and that’s okay. Each cycle gives you new information about your body and your fertility, and with each step, you're closer to your goal.