So... what's the procedure then?

Way back when, I did a full IVF cycle. You can read about the procedure here. I got ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, so instead of having an embryo transfer, I got admitted to hospital for ten days. It was fun. On the upside, many women have assured me that childbirth is a doddle compared to that, so at least I don't have to be afraid there.

In any case, all our transfers so far have been frozen embryo transfers. You can read about frozen transfers here. (These information sheets are provided by the clinic, but some of them are slightly out of date, and all of them are quite general.)

The way a frozen embryo transfer cycle will work for us, in particular, is this:

1. I fly back to Australia.


2. I start daily hormone injections to stimulate ovulation of a single follicle. I have blood tests and ultrasounds whenever I'm told to, usually every 1-3 days.


3. The transfer is scheduled. I have three days' notice of this.


4. The embryo/s is/are thawed the night before transfer. This is a nerve-wracking time as some may die in the thaw or arrest shortly afterwards.


5. On the morning of transfer I'm admitted to the day theatre for a couple of hours. I get to sweat nervously whilst waiting for the embryologist's report, the transfer is (hopefully) performed (providing our embryos have thawed ok) and after a short period of rest I go home again.


6. I start different hormones, which I continue for the next two weeks. This makes me increasingly more emotional as time goes by. It's fun! At some point during this time, I fly back to Singapore.


7. I have a blood test with my obstetrician in Singapore a couple of weeks after the transfer to see whether our embryo is dead yet or not. If it's not dead yet, I continue taking hormones and have a followup blood test either a week later or when things start to go awry, whichever comes first.


8. Once our embryo is well and truly dead, we can do another cycle. If we have embryos left, we will do another frozen cycle. If not, we will do another full IVF cycle. If we are feeling sufficiently demoralised, we will wait before cycling again. I'm not sure why everyone doesn't want to do it this way, really.

The way a full IVF cycle differs from the above for us, in particular, is this:

1. B will fly home to Australia, where she will stay for the six to eight weeks it takes to complete an entire cycle, inclusive of everything.


2. A will try to fly home at some point towards the last third of that, probably for a couple of weeks.

Please note, this all makes it difficult to commit to many things.