In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

Sometimes you need a little extra help achieving your dream of becoming a parent. In vitro fertilization — combining sperm and eggs outside the body — continues to provide this opportunity to millions of people each year.

At the Center for Reproductive Medicine, our specialists achieve some of the highest IVF success rates in the state. We take a compassionate and holistic approach to address your concerns and help you find an option that meets your needs.

Learn more about our Center for Reproductive Medicine, including our efforts to make infertility treatment as accessible as possible.

In vitro fertilization at Henry Ford Health

In addition to our high success rates, we work hard to make your IVF experience as seamless and comfortable as possible. We’re eager to address any concerns you may have, including how IVF fits with your particular religious and cultural beliefs.

As with all of our infertility treatments, we focus on the needs of those coming to us for help. Before making any treatment recommendations for couples, we test both partners to make sure we identify the root cause of the infertility.

If it appears IVF may help, we offer advanced technology to help you conceive a healthy baby, including optional genetic testing of embryos.

How does IVF work?

In vitro fertilization is different than artificial insemination, or intrauterine insemination (IUI). While artificial insemination inserts sperm into the uterus, IVF takes place outside the body. IVF has several steps:

1. Ovarian stimulation: The infertility team uses medications to stimulate the ovaries to produce and release eggs. Doing so helps produce more than one egg, like in a normal cycle.
2. Egg retrieval: During an outpatient procedure, the infertility specialist locates the eggs using ultrasound. Using a needle, the specialist removes the eggs. (You are under mild sedation for this part of the procedure.)
3. Fertilization: The team places the eggs in a dish with sperm to fertilize and form embryos. This step can take three to five days to complete.
4. Embryo transfer: Once the embryos are ready, you come back to see us. Your infertility specialist injects several embryos into the uterus through a small tube. The embryos should implant in the uterus within six to ten days.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and IVF

With traditional IVF, we add thousands of sperm to each egg to create embryos. While this approach often succeeds, it may not overcome male infertility issues such as low sperm count or poor sperm movement (motility).

To address these challenges, we offer intracytoplasmic sperm injection. A team member chooses a single, promising sperm and uses specialized equipment to fertilize the egg. Doing so can enhance IVF and increase the odds of successful embryo development.

Donated sperm or eggs with IVF

Couples who can’t conceive with their own sperm and eggs still have options available. If you can’t get pregnant, you can consider a third-party donation of sperm or eggs to use for your IVF.

Talk to your infertility specialist if you’re interested in a third-party donation.

Gestational carriers

Sometimes, a woman can’t get pregnant because it may endanger her health. If you find yourself in that position, we can work with a gestational carrier. The carrier undergoes IVF with your embryo and carries it to term for you.

This option can help in other situations, too, including for men in same-sex relationships.