The egg retrieval procedure takes about 15 minutes and requires no cuts or stitches. Egg retrieval is typically quick and painless.
Egg Retrieval Is Minimally Invasive
Your doctor uses ultrasound to identify your ovaries, which will have clusters of tiny follicles. Your doctor will gently guide a needle attached to a catheter through the vaginal wall and gently remove the eggs, one by one, using light suction. Eggs will be collected in test tubes labeled with your name and a unique identification number and given to an embryologist, an expert in oocyte cryopreservation.
Once this retrieval process is complete and the needle is removed, your doctor will examine your vaginal wall and ovaries. If these sites bleed a little, the doctor will apply pressure or, on rare occasions, a cauterizing agent to stop the bleeding.
Egg Retrieval is Painless
Anesthesiologists use propofol-based anesthesia instead of general anesthesia. This is an IV sedation medication to ensure that you feel no pain during egg retrieval. Before you leave the office, your team will tell you how many eggs were retrieved. Within 24 hours of egg retrieval, they’ll tell you how many of your eggs were ultimately frozen. Typically, about 80% of eggs retrieved are normal and suitable for freezing.
After retrieval, your eggs will be moved immediately to our lab, where they will be frozen using a flash-freezing method known as vitrification.
