Patient's question:
My best friend said she wants to have children, but he suffers from a serious gynecological disease and cannot conceive normally. I suggested she could consider IVF. He is afraid that the egg retrieval process might have an impact on his health. What are the harms of egg retrieval for women?Doctor's answer:
Normal natural ovulation usually involves one egg, and if this single egg is used for in vitro fertilization, it can produce at most one embryo. During embryo transfer, there is no choice. The pregnancy rate with the transfer of one embryo is very low. Sometimes, this egg may not be fertilized or may not develop, resulting in no chance of pregnancy. Egg retrieval is a minor surgical procedure that can be performed under general anesthesia or local anesthesia. Guided by transvaginal ultrasound, the egg retrieval needle is inserted through the vagina to reach the ovaries to collect the eggs. After collection, laboratory personnel immediately transfer the eggs to a petri dish containing embryo culture medium under a microscope and place them in a 37°C incubator for culture.