Mini IVF

In vitro fertilisation is an assisted reproduction technique aimed primarily at a couple with problems getting pregnant, a very common situation nowadays, even in young couples of childbearing age.

In vitro treatment is the most sophisticated and precise technique in the assisted reproduction market.

At Operarme we offer you the Mini IVF treatment in Spain for 3.380 €, a fixed price with all the services necessary to successfully complete the treatment, as well as a network of fertility clinics of national and European reference, with one of the best pregnancy success rates. 

This treatment, also known as minimal stimulation IVF, is mainly aimed at couples with fertility problems who wish to have a child. For this reason, it is important to go for an initial assessment consultation with a specialist in Assisted Reproduction to familiarise yourself with your case and find out the degree of fertility you have to undergo Mini IVF treatment.

If you are thinking of undergoing Mini IVF in Spain, we recommend that you first carry out the Couple Fertility Study, which, in addition to the assessment consultation that we offer, includes all the tests necessary to determine the viability of the treatment in your couple → Read more about the Couple Fertility Study.

Throughout this page you will find more detailed information about the treatment. However, you can contact us on +34 91 141 33 56, and our Patient Service team will answer any questions you may have.

Mini IVF treatment, also known as minimal stimulation IVF, is an assisted reproduction technique mainly aimed at a couple or a woman with problems getting pregnant.

This technique consists of the fertilisation of an egg and a sperm (with the patient's partner's sperm or, on the other hand, donor sperm) in a laboratory, in order to obtain a viable embryo and subsequently implant it in the patient's uterus.

In contrast to the conventional in vitro technique, the Mini IVF treatment involves a gentler and less intense ovarian stimulation as it requires the application of a smaller amount of hormonal medication to stimulate the ovaries.

As in classic IVF, this technique involves a small surgical intervention, in which the eggs are extracted. It is a minor outpatient surgery, in which between 2 and 8 eggs are extracted, which will then be fertilised in the laboratory.

Mini IVF technique is not recommended for all patients as it depends on a series of factors or requirements necessary to be successful at the end of the treatment and achieve pregnancy, these are:

• Women under 35 years of age who have a good ovarian reserve and a good prognosis after the fertility study.
• Women who have undergone previous cycles of in vitro fertilisation or artificial insemination in which they have obtained exaggerated ovarian responses.
• Patients at risk of ovarian hyperstimulation.

Mini IVF treatment generally lasts between 16 and 18 days, always depending on the patient's ovarian response (this period includes from ovarian stimulation to embryo transfer):

• After having attended the first assessment consultation with one of our specialists, and having decided to go ahead with the treatment, the patient begins the first phase, and the most important of all, called ovarian stimulation. This phase lasts between 12-14 days depending on the patient's ovarian response.
• 32-40 hours after the end of the stimulation phase, the oocytes are extracted. This extraction takes about 15 minutes.
• Finally, 5-6 days after fertilisation, the embryo transfer is performed. This is the last phase of the treatment, in which the patient remains in the clinic for a short time (10 minutes) to rest after insertion of the embryo into the uterus.

If you and your partner are thinking of carrying out gentle in vitro fertilisation, Operarme offers you a free and immediate assessment consultation with one of the specialists in assisted reproduction at our collaborating specialised centres. 

You can request your assessment consultation through the website by clicking on the banner below, or by calling at +34 91 141 33 56,

Are you interested in undergoing Mini IVF treatment?

Request a free and immediate appointment with our specialists in Assisted Reproduction

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Our Patient Service team will take your details, manage and confirm your consultation date, as well as answer any questions you may have about the process.

On the day of the appointment with the assisted reproduction specialists at one of our collaborating centres, the patient comes to the consultation, together with her partner, with the necessary documentation (our Patient Service team will tell the patient what documentation to bring on the day of the appointment) and all the complementary tests associated with her fertility problem so that the specialist can begin to familiarise himself with the case.

This type of assessment consultation is usually carried out in the following way:

• Medical interview: in this consultation, the patient will inform the specialist of the reasons for attending this consultation and considering opting for a treatment such as Mini IVF. The doctor will ask the couple, and specifically the patient, a series of questions about medical history, reproductive history, lifestyle, etc., as well as providing them with information about the in vitro treatment, its benefits, success rate, times, etc.
• Review of tests: in this consultation, the specialist also proceeds to review the medical tests provided by the couple regarding their infertility problems, in order to determine whether in vitro fertilisation is the best option for their particular case, or whether another type of assisted reproduction treatment should be recommended. If the couple has not previously undergone the couple's Fertility Study, in which a blood test and a hormonal analysis are carried out to check the couple's fertility level, they can contact our team at Operarme, who will help them to arrange an appointment for the diagnostic tests prior to the consultation with the specialist. These diagnostic tests are not included in the free assessment consultation and must be paid for by the patient.
• Decision-making: after having reviewed the test results and resolved the patient's doubts, the specialist will end the consultation, and the couple will decide at that moment or in the next few days to go ahead with the process and start the Mini IVF. 

If the couple does not make a decision at the time of the consultation, they should contact our Patient Care team to indicate that they want to go ahead with the process and start the treatment, once they have made their decision.

Once the decision has been made to start Mini IVF or Minimal stimulation IVF treatment, our Patient Service team will arrange appointments with the clinic to begin the first part of the procedure.

Before starting the first stage, a semen sample is taken from the man to be analysed to determine its viability and capacity. This sample is then used to inseminate the woman's egg.

Once the insemination is complete, a transvaginal ultrasound is performed on the woman to determine her uterus and ovaries, repeating this test several times throughout the ovarian stimulation process to monitor the number and size of the follicles.

After these preliminary steps, if the specialist considers that all is well enough to continue the Mini IVF treatment, the 4-stage process begins:

Ovarian stimulation

The start of ovarian stimulation must coincide with the arrival of the woman's menstruation in order to produce an increase in the number of follicles.

The main objective of this first stage is to stimulate the patient's ovaries in order to obtain a certain number of eggs to maximise the chances of pregnancy. 

In the Mini IVF technique, a gentle ovarian stimulation is performed because the patient has a good ovarian reception and therefore a higher chance of pregnancy.

For this reason, the doses of medication (oral or by daily injection) are reduced in order to perform this gentle stimulation that we have mentioned, and thus produce a smaller number of eggs, compared to classic IVF.

The aim of this technique is to obtain between 2 and 8 eggs instead of between 8 and 15 as in conventional IVF: the result is a smaller number of embryos that have a greater chance of success, so they are normally all transferred to the patient's uterus and it is not usually necessary to freeze embryos.

During this period an ultrasound follow-up is carried out to control and monitor the evolution of the number of follicles until the required number is achieved.

After the last injection or oral medication of the ovarian stimulation stage, the egg retrieval procedure is scheduled for approximately 36 hours later.

Ovarian puncture

Once the ovarian stimulation stage is over, 36 hours after the last injection, the eggs are removed through an intervention known as ovarian puncture or transvaginal follicular puncture.

It is an outpatient procedure, simple and quick. Below we detail the steps followed by the medical team to perform the egg retrieval.

On the day of the egg retrieval, the couple comes to the hospital with the documentation required for admission. The patient is escorted to a waiting room where she will be asked to undress and change into operating theatre clothes. It is important to note that no jewellery or piercings should be worn for the operation.

Once in the operating theatre, the patient will meet the medical team that will perform the puncture: the specialist, the anaesthesiologist and an ATS who will assist during the surgery:

Once in the operating theatre, the patient will meet the medical team that will perform the puncture: the specialist, the anaesthesiologist and an ATS who will assist during the surgery:

• First, the specialist will give the patient instructions on how to position herself on the examination table, with the necessary posture being the same as for a conventional cytology.
• Next, the anaesthesiologist will apply sedation to the patient. In this type of procedure, only local or regional anaesthesia is used, never general anaesthesia.
• Once the patient is sedated, the specialist begins the extraction.
• He first introduces a needle via the transvaginal route, guided by an ultrasound scanner that allows him to visualise the inside of the pelvic cavity, to pass through the wall of the vagina and thus reach the ovaries.
• The follicles are then aspirated and the follicular fluid is collected in tubes, which are stored to preserve the fluid and then sent to the laboratory. 
• In most cases, there is a possibility that during the puncture, the fluid will come out red. This blood will be removed in the laboratory to facilitate fertilisation.
• Once all the follicular fluid has been removed, the procedure is completed and the patient is awakened.

This procedure lasts approximately 15 minutes. After the puncture, the patient is transferred to a recovery room where she remains until she recovers from the anaesthesia.

The next phase of the Mini IVF treatment is insemination and fertilisation in the laboratory.

Fertilisation and embryo culture

After completing the extraction, the samples are taken to the laboratory where any blood that may have been extracted with the liquid and could affect the oocytes is first removed.

The eggs are then washed and sorted. This procedure is very important and requires precision, which is why it is necessary to contact the best possible medical and technological team, as is the case with the team of professionals that make up our collaborating clinics, which have professionals with more than 30 years of experience in assisted reproduction. 

After classification, the oocytes are left in a culture medium. While the oocytes are being prepared, the specialists begin to prepare the man's sperm sample in order to isolate the sperm to be used for fertilisation.

After insemination, it is necessary to wait a few hours or even a whole day to check how many eggs have been fertilised. The next step is embryo culture.

Once fertilised, these eggs become pre-embryos for the next 5-6 days, during which the lab team will monitor them regularly to make sure they are growing properly and their cells are actively dividing.

The laboratory team will carry out this monitoring through a method known as Time Lapse, which consists of actively monitoring the entire embryo culture, and then selecting the embryos that are most likely to be viable and increase the patient's chances of pregnancy. 

Once the embryos are ready, the embryo is transferred to the woman 3 to 5 days after the egg retrieval surgery, depending on the case of each patient.

Embryo transfer

Three to five days after fertilisation, the last stage of the treatment is carried out: the embryo transfer or introduction of the embryo into the uterus.

This process is performed on an outpatient basis and does not require anaesthesia. For this procedure, it is advisable for the patient to come with a full bladder to facilitate ultrasound visualisation.

The embryo transfer procedure is performed by the gynaecologist using a fine cannula that is inserted through the vagina until it reaches the end of the uterus. Through this catheter the embryos are channelled and placed in the uterus.

After implantation, the patient is always advised to rest for the rest of the day and resume her daily activities the following day.

If one of these embryos implants in the lining of the uterus (endometrium) and begins to grow, the desired pregnancy occurs.

The remaining embryos are preserved in latest technology banks designed to avoid cross-contamination. The cost of the treatment covers preservation for the first two years (but does not include freezing).

After completing the embryo transfer and implantation, the patient must follow the specific indications of the specialists in order to favour the successful implantation of the embryo in the uterus.

Twelve to fourteen days after the last stage of the in vitro treatment, the patient should visit the clinic for a pregnancy test to check whether the treatment has been successful.

What happens if there are leftover embryos?

During the Mini IVF process, generally all the embryos obtained (between 2 and 8) are implanted in the uterus. For this reason, in the case of mini IVF there are usually no remaining embryos and it is not necessary to resort to embryo cryopreservation.

When should I contact the doctor after IVF?

The patient has a series of control and revision consultations that the clinic team will indicate during the post-IVF treatment process. 

Despite these consultations, it is always recommended that if the patient notices any of the following situations at any time, she should see a doctor immediately: 

• Fever temperature higher than 38 ºC 
• Pain in the pelvic area
• Vaginal bleeding
• Blood in the urine

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is an effective and safe treatment that provides an opportunity for couples who are unable to have children naturally, and wish to become parents.

This treatment involves a series of complex procedures to improve fertility and achieve the goal of getting the patient pregnant.

Every treatment has its advantages and disadvantages related to the treatment process itself, or to the subsequent IVF phase.

In this section we will discuss the most important advantages or benefits and the possible risks that the Mini IVF technique may entail:

Advantages of the Mini IVF technique

• It is more comfortable: it allows less medication in the ovarian stimulation phase (either injectable or oral).
• By reducing the dose of medication, a smaller number of oocytes are produced, so that embryo cryopreservation is not necessary.
• It favours fertilisation in patients with medical problems such as blocked fallopian tubes or tubal ligation, without affecting the IVF success rate, thanks to the follicular puncture technique.

• All-inclusive price: When you have your In Vitro Fertilisation Treatment with Operarme the advantages are many. Firstly, the price of the treatment is all-inclusive, which means that there are no surprises at the end. In addition, Operarme provides you with a medical service contract in which it guarantees the price and everything included in the in vitro fertilisation treatment.
• The best assisted reproduction team: All fertility and assisted reproduction treatments provided by Operarme throughout Spain are carried out by the specialised team of the best national clinics in Assisted Reproduction, with more than 30 years providing this service.
• Personalised attention: In addition to the personal, close and attentive treatment that couples will receive in the clinics where we provide the service, the couple will have a personal Operarme patient care advisor who will help them throughout the process.
• Hospital environment: Maximum security by guaranteeing that the entire process is carried out in a hospital environment, with the entire process being carried out in the main private hospitals in the provinces in which we work.
• Partial refund clause: Another important aspect of Operarme's medical services contract is the inclusion of a partial refund clause in the event that the couple, or due to medical advice, decides to interrupt the in vitro fertilisation process. The amount refunded will depend on the stage in the process at which it is decided to stop. If you have any questions about this clause, you can contact us through a contact form or by calling at +34 91 141 33 56.
• No waiting: the consultation with the Assisted Reproduction team through Operarme is free and immediate. In addition, when the couple decides to undergo Mini IVF, it begins immediately.

Assess your case with our specialists in Mini IVF

Request a free and immediate consultation with our specialists in Assisted Reproduction

Make an appointment