Oocyte Recovery, or more accurately termed as TVOR (Transvaginal Oocyte Retrieval) or OCR (Oocyte Retrieval), is a medical intervention that involves egg collection. This is a technique utilized during the process of IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) to be able to extract oocytes or egg cells from the female ovary. This is a vital step to make fertilization outside the body possible. This extracted egg cell would then be used along with a healthy sperm cell in order to enable the fertilization process to take place. As an oocyte undergoes the process of maturing, it turns into a cell that is no longer termed as an oocyte, instead, it is now called an Ovum. In this case, the more appropriate term would then be “Transvaginal Ovum Retrieval”. In the process of in vitro fertilization, this is the form of retrieval that is performed since what is being extracted is not an oocyte anymore but a mature ovum or egg cell.

How Does the Procedure Take Place?

You can choose a fertility clinic in Singapore and have this procedure done. Under the guidance of an ultrasound, the doctor places a needle through the wall of the vagina toward the ovarian follicle. Of course in the process, special precaution is made in order to not injure or damage the organs that are located between structures of the ovary and vaginal wall. The needle is two ended, and so the opposite end is connected to a suction device.

Contact with the Follicle and Aspiration

Through the use of the suction device, the cellular material together with the oocyte and follicular fluid is aspirated. This process is carefully done because it is very important that the oocyte is extracted since that is the whole goal and objective of the procedure. Without the oocyte, the procedure would not be successful because no oocyte has been retrieved. If this is the case then fertilization would not be possible due to the fact that the important variable in the process is not present.

Identification and Quantification

If the extraction has been successful however, the retrieved follicular fluid is sent to the laboratory to be checked by a technician. Then, in the In Vitro Fertilization Laboratory, the ova are evaluated to be able to identify and count the ova present. After this, other follicles are also aspirated. It is important that the quantification of the ova is done right in order to determine how many usable ova are present. If there are more healthy ova retrieved, then the process of fertilization has higher chances of being successful.

Withdrawal

If the process of aspiration from one ovary has already been done, then the needle that was inserted through the vaginal wall is withdrawn. Then, the whole process of insertion, aspiration and identification is repeated on the other ovary of the female. Before the procedure takes place, certain steps have been made in order to hyperstimulate the female. This means that her ovaries are stimulated more than normal to produce more eggs. This not only ensures higher chances of being able to retrieve more eggs but also increases the possibility of fertilization being successful. After the whole process of retrieval is finished, the needle is finally withdrawn. All the steps in the procedure of extraction have a total duration of twenty to sixty minutes all in all.

Pharmacological Intervention

Oocyte recovery is conducted after the process of ovarian hyperstimulation is done. This step provides pharmacological stimulation for the oocytes to mature into ovum. The ovarian follicles are closely monitored and when they reach a specific stage in their development, final oocyte maturation is induced. This is done by injection either on sites of muscle or beneath the skin with human chorionic gonadotropin. The process of retrieval in relation to the human chorionic gonadotropin injection takes place after thirty four to thirty six hours. This assures that the eggs have already been fully matured but avoid the situation of the follicles rupturing.

All processes and steps done in this procedure are of course performed by trained professionals in a fertility clinic in Singapore. Fertilization involves careful and skillful manipulation of tools and knowledge where in the chances of a woman having a baby is dependent on. Oocyte recovery is definitely a breakthrough in science that has helped a lot of women pursue their goals of having a baby through a safe and clinically tested method.