Artificial insemination IVF

Artificial insemination, also called IVF treatment, will be used if:

  • The passage in your fallopian tubes is blocked
  • The sperm count is low
  • You have adhesions
  • Your infertility is inexplicable

IVF is the most effective form of fertility treatment. After treatment some 30-35% get pregnant  - however, the pregnancy rate depends on the woman’s age. 

You can read more about our impressive results here.

Link to our price list here.

IVF treatment short protocol

The treatment procedure takes place during the same menstrual cycle. 

Step 1On day 1 of your cycle, you call the clinic or send an email to book an appointment for day 2 or 3 in your cycle.
Step 2On day 2 or 3 you come in for a scan at the clinic and you’ll get a plan for your treatment. This is the day you start the hormone treatment. The hormone treatment stimulates your ovaries so that several eggs mature instead of the usual one.
Step 3On day 9 you come in for another scan. We’ll measure the egg cells and check how many of them there are.
Step 4When the largest of the egg cells measure 18 mm in diameter, a hormon is injected to stimulate the maturing of the eggs. Then after a 36-hour wait, the eggs are extracted (aspiration).
Step 5The eggs are sucked out with a thin needle guided through the vaginal wall by ultrasound. You need to stay at the clinic for about an hour after this procedure. When the eggs have been extracted and the male partner has supplied a semen sample, the actual fertilisation takes place in the laboratory. Before you go home, we’ll inform you about the quality of the semen and the eggs. We’ll call you the day after to let you know how the eggs are developing. And then we decide on the next step in your treatment.
Step 6After 24-48 hours we can see which of the eggs have turned into blastocysts; that is, which of them have been successfully fertilised.
Step 7The fertilised eggs are then cultivated for 5-6 days in an embryoscope. This method is called blastocyst cultivation. Cultivating the fertilised eggs for 5-6 days until they reach the blastocyst stage gives us a better chance to choose the eggs with the highest chance of pregnancy.
Step 8The most suitable eggs are now transferred to the womb. We’ll transfer 1 egg. Surplus eggs can be frozen and used in later cycles.
Step 910 days later you come back to clinic for a blood test that will hopefully confirm that you are pregnant.

IVF treatment long protocol

This treatment takes place over about 7 weeks.

Step 1On day 21 of your cycle in the start-up month you come to the clinic for a scan and start the preparatory treatment with a nasal spray and daily injections for 2 weeks, to suppress natural hormone production.
Step 2In the next cycle, you come in for a scan on day 2, and you get a plan of your treatment. This is the day you start the hormone treatment. The hormone treatment stimulates your ovaries so that several eggs mature instead of the usual only one.
Step 3On day 9 you come in for another scan. We’ll measure the egg cells and check how many of them there are.
Step 4When the largest of the egg cells measure 18 mm in diameter, a hormon is injected to stimulate the maturing of the eggs. Then after a 36-hour wait, the eggs are extracted (aspiration).
Step 5The eggs are sucked out with a thin needle guided through the vaginal wall by ultrasound. You need to stay at the clinic for about an hour after this procedure. When the eggs have been extracted and the male partner has supplied a semen sample, the actual fertilisation takes place in the laboratory. Before you go home, we’ll inform you about the quality of the semen and the eggs. We’ll call you the day after to let you know how the eggs are developing. And then we decide on the next step in your treatment.
Step 6After 24-48 hours we can see which of the eggs have turned into blastocysts; that is, which of them have been successfully fertilised.
Step 7The fertilised eggs are then cultivated for 5-6 days in an embryoscope. This method is called blastocyst cultivation. Cultivating the fertilised eggs for 5-6 days until they reach the blastocyst stage gives us a better chance to choose the eggs with the highest chance of pregnancy.
Step 8The most suitable eggs are now transferred to the womb. We’ll transfer 1 egg. Surplus eggs can be frozen and used in later cycles.
Step 910 days later you come back to clinic for a blood test that will hopefully confirm that you are pregnant.

If you want more detailed information, don’t hesitate to contact the clinic.

IVF mild stimulation

Mild stimulation aims to reduce the physical, financial and emotional burden associated with conventional IVF without compromising on pregnancy rates. Such a protocol helps reduce the complications and discomfort associated with long-term administration of hormones by limiting the number of oocytes.
Mild stimulation protocol is due to a desire to make the procedure simpler. The fact that there has been a huge development in the IVF laboratory, gave us at Aagaard clinic the courage to aim for fewer eggs, which reduces the required hormone dose and thus the costs and complications.

Who is it for?
• Women with a normal or low egg reserve
• Couples receiving treatment due to reduced sperm quality
• Women with polycystic ovary / polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
• Women who want to take a lower amount of medication
• Women who want to reduce the physical and mental burden associated with conventional IVF

What are the benefits of mild IVF?
• Highly stimulating hormones can adversely affect implantation, making the uterine lining more favorable for implantation in mild IVF.
• The risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is reduced in mild IVF
• Studies have shown that egg and embryo quality are better when using mild stimulation compared to conventional IVF
• mild stimulation seems to be a low risk and affordable option

We at Aagaard Clinic would like to give patients who are either not yet sure about starting their IVF journey, patients who have been told that their egg reserve is too low, and patients who do not want to feel the negative impact of large amounts of hormones, the possibility of getting a milder treatment to fulfill their lifelong dream of having a healthy baby.

Micro-insemination ICSI/IMSI

The only difference between micro-insemination and standard IVF is the way in which the egg is fertilised. In standard IVF, eggs and sperm are simply placed in a culture dish, and the sperm cells are left to find their own way into the eggs. In micro-insemination, a single sperm cell is injected directly into the egg. The method is used if the man produces too few sperm cells to make standard IVF possible, or if the eggs have not been successfully fertilised in standard IVF, despite apparently good egg and sperm quality.

At Aagaard Fertilitetsklinik we use the ICSI method. In ICSI, the sperm cells are selected by using a microscope with a magnification of 400 times. IMSI uses a microscope with a magnification of 6,000 times. Intuitively, you would think that the IMSI method would prove a more precise selection of sperm cells. However, the only comparative study published shows that there is no difference between the results of the two methods. Except that IMSI is more timeconsuming.

Assisted hatching AHA

In some women, the shell surrounding the eggs is so thick that it is difficult for it to crack open. This makes it hard for the embryo to bury itself in the lining of the womb. This is often seen in women over the age of 40. What happens in AHA is that a small area of the shell is 'weakened' in the lab, to make it easier for the fertilised egg to open (hatch). This improves the chances of a pregnancy developing. This procedure is performed about 2 weeks before the embryo is put back into the womb.

TESA - Collecting sperm from the testicles

In some cases it can be necessary to take sperm directly from the testicle. For instance if :

  • The man is unable to ejaculate
  • The man has had a vasectomy
  • The man doesn’t produce sperm, e.g. due to a genital infection

Sperm cells are produced in the testicles in thread-like tubes, coiled up like lots of tiny balls of yarn, filling the testicles. All these tiny tubes end in a few ducts that lead to the epididymis. This is the pencil-like ridge that runs along the backside of the testicle. The epididymis ends in the spermatic duct that then transports the semen to the urethra. 

Before the TESA procedure, your scrotum is disinfected. You’ll be given a local anaesthesia with a very fine needle in your groin, just above the scrotum. This is no more uncomfortable than any other injection. 

Then some tissue will be removed with a thin needle. The sample is taken to the lab where the lab technologist will cut the sample into very thin slices and look for sperm. After just a few minutes, we’ll know whether we’ve managed to extract some sperm.   

You’ll probably feel some soreness in your testicle when the anaesthesia wears off. You should take it easy for the rest of the day. Take some ordinary painkillers, Panodil or Pamol, to relieve any discomfort you feel. However, if you are in a lot of pain or experience a pronounced swelling of the scrotum, and/or fever, you must contact the clinic or a doctor. 

Freezing eggs

If there are some suitable fertilised eggs, i.e. embryos, left after we’ve transferred 1 or 2 into your womb, we can freeze them for you. This is relevant in approx. 25% of the treatments. 

In the freezing/defrosting process, 2-5 % of the embryos perish. The embryos will be defrosted the day before the transfer, and it’s normally not until the day of the transfer that it’s possible to assess the suitability of the embryos. 

At Aagaard Fertilitetsklinik we use two different methods for freezing eggs. One method is called slowfreeze, which is used to freeze fertilised eggs on day 2 or day 3.

The other method is called vitrification, which is used both for unfertilised eggs (oocyter) and fertilised eggs when they have reached the blastocyst stage (day 5 or day 6).

Slowfreeze has been used since 1983 and vitrification since 2011. Both with good results.

The chance of getting pregnant using frozen, defrosted embryos is about 25%. That’s why the law allows us to transfer 3 embryos if the woman is 40 or older, and if you wish us to do so. 

The law says that: 

  • The frozen embryos can only be used for your own treatment
  • Embryos can be frozen for a maximum of 5 years. After that, they have to be destroyed. The embryos will also be destroyed if one of the partners dies, or if the marriage or partnership is dissolved
  • You must give your written consent to the freezing and storage of the embryos, and to the terms and conditions on which it happens
  • Embryos can only be defrosted and used if you give your written consent

Freezing sperm

There can be many reasons for choosing to have sperm frozen and stored. Storing sperm can be a good option if:

  • You’re about to have medical treatment that may potentially harm your sperm cells (for example radiation or chemotherapy)
  • It’s difficult for you to supply fresh semen on the day of egg extraction
  • You can’t be present on the day of IUI treatment or egg extraction
  • You’re considering a vasectomy

50 - 70 % of sperm cells die during the freezing and thawing process.  So it’s really important to have your sperm’s suitability for freezing evaluated before freezing.

Donor semen from Aagaard Skejby Cryobank

At Aagaard Klinik we have our own sperm bank, Aagaard Skejby CryoBank. If you are receiving fertility treatment with us, you can buy sperm straws from Aagaard Skejby CryoBank. 

Buying sperm straws from Aagaard Skejby CryoBank saves you the cost of delivery and it also reduces the risk of damage during transportation. In addition, you don’t have to pay the handling fee of DKK 250 that is added for handling sperm from a different sperm bank.

Aagaard Skejby CryoBank delivers sperm of the very highest quality. As the only sperm bank in Denmark, Aagaard Skejby CryoBank tests all donors for high-risk HPV and the extent of DNA fragmentation. See our list of donors and order sperm straws at our website.

Mild IVF

Transcript

Hør vores Lægelige direktør, Aboubakar Cissé, fortælle om Mild IVF behandling.
Denne behandling kan man få tilbudt udelukkende ud fra en lægelig vurdering.