Infertility Treatment Process

With a team of leading specialists in the field and the support of advanced facilities and equipment, Hong Ngoc IVF Center has accompanied with numerous infertile couples in their journey of pursuing happiness. Apart from popular assisted reproductive techniques including Intra-Uterine Insemination (IUI), In vitro Fertilization (IVF), and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Screening (PGD/PGS), Hong Ngoc IVF Center has successfully applied an array of the world’s latest techniques such as selection of viable sperm using laser or MACS system that have not been available in Vietnam.

On the basis of patient’s conditions and other subjective factors, the most appropriate techniques would be indicated and combined in each particular protocol. In general, IVF treatment process at Hong Ngoc IVF Center consists of following steps:

1. Examination, basic tests and consultation

– Patient medical record and related documents are established and followed throughout the examination and treatment.

– The first appointment should be arranged on the 2nd or 12th day of the female patient’s menstrual cycle.

– The partner (male patient) must abstain from ejaculation for 3-5 days before the day of examination.

– The couple will be examined and consulted to take some basic blood tests, ultrasound (female) and spermigram (male) to define their conditions and causes of infertility.

Note: The couple is recommended to contact the Center in advance to conveniently make an appointment. Tel: +84 24 3927 5568 (ext 6820)

2. Defining treatment plan

– Based on the patients’ health status, history of infertility, test results and initial examination, the specialist would conduct a consultation and provide patient with the most effective personalize treatment plan.

– One or several assisted reproductive techniques will be selected according to the specific case. The patient then will be explained clearly about each technique, the entire procedure, its pros and cons as well as cost estimates.

– Finally, the patient and specialist come to an agreement on the treatment plan and start following it.

3. Ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval and sperm preparation

– The amount of medications to hyperstimulate the female patient’s follicles is indicated base on her height, weight, age, medical history, reproductive hormonal profile and antral follicles count. She is injected with medications in 10 – 14 days, which could vary on each case and the patient’s response to medications.

– During this time, the female patient will be asked to come to the clinic for ultrasound to monitor the development of these follicles and adjust the regimen if necessary.

– When the follicles reach the required size, another hormone will be injected to trigger the ovulation, which must be done at the exact time indicated by the specialist.

– About 36-40 hours after administration of injection which triggers ovulation, the specialist will retrieve the mature egg vaginally. The technique lasts about 10-15 minutes. At the same time, sperm of her partner is prepared or thawed from frozen sample (if available/necessary).

– In case of infertility caused by male factors such as low sperm count, deformed sperm, immotile and especially no sperm at all in the seminal fluid (azoospermia), surgical epididymis sperm aspiration techniques (PESA, MESA) and procedures to select viable sperm (by laser or MACS system) would be considered to ensure the highest sperm quality.

4. Embryo creation, cultivation and quality control

– Retrieved eggs and sperm are moved to the laboratory for fertilization/ embryos creation. Based on the particular situation, the fertilization process will be assisted by classical in vitro fertilization (IVF) or IVF with Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

– The embryos will be cultivated in the lab for 3-5 days under the strict control of embryologists. The embryos cultivation takes place in the modern multi-room incubator equipped with camera that continuously taking photos, which ensures the best environment for embryo development.

– Before embryo transfer, pre-implantation diagnosis and screening techniques would be indicated in accordance with the patient’s history of genetic disorders and their demands. Pre-implantation diagnosis and screening allow specialist to detect and discard embryos carrying abnormal chromosomes, thus ensuring the embryo quality, reducing the number of embryos per transfer, decreasing the rate of multiple pregnancies as well as pregnancy terminations due to genetic defects.

– During the endometrial preparation process, the female patient is indicated some oral and vaginal medications. If the embryos are transferred in the same cycle that they are created, the process is called fresh embryo transfer. In case that the situation is not good enough for fresh embryo transfer, all the embryos that meet the standard quality would be frozen for the later use.

Note: This step is not included in cases of intrauterine insemination (IUI) as the embryo creation process takes place “naturally” in the woman’s uterus.

5. Embryo transfer

– The couple will be informed about the quality and quantity of successful embryos. They will then discuss with their specialist to decide the number of embryos to be transferred. The remaining embryos would be cryopreserved.

– When the uterine lining is thick enough and favorable for the implantation and development of the embryos, the specialist will transfer the embryos.

– For frozen embryo transfer, the woman is required to take medications and ultrasound to monitor the development of the uterine lining for 14-18 days from the second day of the suitable menstrual cycle. The embryo transfer date will be indicated by the specialist.

6. Pregnancy test

2 weeks after the IVF, the patient will take beta-hCG test to know the result of pregnancy. If the beta-hCG concentration is higher than 25 IU/l, then the woman has get pregnant. This concentration may vary on each person.

– If the beta-HCG concentration increases at least by 1.5 times in 2 days, that means the fetus is developing well and the mother will keeps using prenatal drugs and wait to the next visit for ultrasound to check the gestational sac and fetal heart.

– If after 2 days the beta-hCG concentration remains unchanged or decreased, it needs further monitoring. Chemical pregnancy is defined when the concentration is negative (<5 IU/l).

If the woman hasn’t get pregnant in that cycle, the frozen embryos will be transferred to her uterus in the next cycles without taking early steps of ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval.

7. Maternity and delivery service packages

The patient would receive the best care from experienced doctors and experienced nurses of IVF Hong Ngoc in particular and Hong Ngoc General Hospital in general. Throughout the pregnancy, all examination and tests are performed with modern technology, allowing specialist to timely handle of any problems so that the woman and her fetus will be at the good state of health.

Maternity and delivery packages are well designed to meet different demands of couples. Together with IVF procedures, they contribute to complete a closed process of treatment.

Having studied overseas, the Hong Ngoc IVF Center’s team of specialists boast extensive knowledge and understanding of each technique, thereby helping patients reduce costs for the entire treatment process and improve the success rate for all cases from simple to the most complex ones.

For further information, please contact

Hong Ngoc IVF Center – Hong Ngoc General Hospital

Add: 14th floor, 55 Yen Ninh, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

Hotline: (+84) 915 960 139 – 0915 330 016

Tel: (+84-24) 3927 5568 ext 6820/6825

Mail: arthongngoc@hongngochospital.vn