When you need IVF,
the details matter.

IVF is a common and effective treatment for helping people build their families. It is an option for couples facing fertility challenges due to conditions including, but not limited to, blocked or damaged fallopian tubes, low sperm counts, endometriosis, recurrent pregnancy loss, and advanced age. IVF is also used to help single people and couples build their families with the help of donor eggs, donor sperm, or a gestational surrogate.

While every situation is unique, the basic components of an IVF cycle include: preparation, ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, fertilization, embryo culture, embryo freezing, and embryo transfer. Your personalized care plan will be provided at the start of your cycle to guide you through this journey.

Timing varies based on your individual care plan. Diagnostics, planning, and cycle prep happen over the weeks leading up to your treatment cycle. Your fertility specialist will walk you through the timeline that fits your situation.

Cycle monitoring is a series of blood tests and internal ultrasounds performed over the course of 9 to 13 days following the start of your fertility medications. Cycle monitoring is used to track your progress during your IVF cycle and determine the optimal timing for your egg retrieval procedure.

IVF relies on fertility medications called gonadotropins (FSH and LH) to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs at the same time. These medications are essential to the IVF process.

The egg retrieval process is done under conscious sedation, meaning you are given medications for pain and relaxation through an IV for the duration of the procedure. These medications are not a general anesthetic, so you can expect to be aware and to feel pressure from the ultrasound during your procedure. The majority of people find that their pain is very well controlled with these medications during their procedure.

Conventional IVF and ICSI are two methods of fertilization when doing an IVF cycle. With conventional IVF, sperm is washed and prepared and then placed around each egg to allow fertilization to happen naturally. ICSI stands for intracytoplasmic sperm injection. It is a technique where a single, motile, normally shaped sperm is injected directly into each mature egg to achieve fertilization. Your team will recommend the best approach based on your situation.

Timelapse incubation is the process of incubating, or growing, your embryos in a specialized incubator equipped with cameras that take photographs of your developing embryos around-the-clock. This technology means that our embryologists can continuously monitor the development of your embryos in a controlled environment without removing them from the incubator. At Twig, this footage is available through the CHLOE™ Embryo Viewer, included on self-pay cycles and available as an add-on for OFP-funded cycles, giving you transparency and insight into your embryos’ growth.

An embryo transfer is the process of placing an embryo into the uterus in the hopes of achieving a pregnancy. Embryo transfers can be fresh or frozen. Fresh transfers occur either 3 or 5 days after an egg retrieval or egg thaw procedure. Frozen transfers involve thawing a previously frozen embryo and aligning the timing of the transfer with preparing your uterus for implantation.

In most cases, we transfer one embryo at a time. This is the preferred approach to reduce the risk of multiples and pregnancy complications while optimizing outcomes. In very select cases, we may consider transferring two embryos at the same time after a thorough discussion of risks with your fertility specialist.

Embryos that are not transferred during an IVF cycle can be cryopreserved (frozen) for future use. At Twig, any fully developed embryos that are not used are frozen and stored in our lab. This allows you to use them in a future embryo transfer cycle.

Pregnancy rates after IVF vary significantly by age, diagnosis, and cycle type, so a single headline number can be misleading. At Twig, your physician will share outcome data relevant to your specific age range, diagnosis, and treatment plan at your consult, and we reference national CARTR-BORN data alongside our own results.

Not every cycle results in a pregnancy, and we don’t pretend otherwise. If a cycle doesn’t reach your goal, your specialist will sit down with you to review what happened, what we learned, and the options for moving forward. Many patients try again with adjustments; some patients consider other paths. The choice is yours.

Eligible Ontario residents under 43 are eligible for one government-funded IVF cycle through the OFP. At Twig there is currently no waitlist. Additional cycles are self-pay. In BC, consults are MSP-covered and IVF is self-pay.

Our IVF cycle price does not include fertility medications (approximately $4,000 to $8,000+ depending on the specific protocol and dose required), the embryo transfer itself, PGT-A genetic testing, or embryo storage beyond the first year. Your care team will walk you through every cost during your planning visit.