Egg Retrieval (Ovum Pick-Up) in IVF: Is It Painful and How Long Is Recovery?

Dr. Anshika Lekhi, MBBS, MS (Obstetrics & Gynecology), The Fertilife, Gurgaon

Two weeks of injections build up to a single morning, and most women arrive for it having read something frightening. The short answer is that you will be sedated and will not feel the procedure, and that the discomfort afterwards is usually less than people expect.

Here is the whole day, in order.

The Night Before

The trigger, timed to the hour

Your trigger injection is given at a precisely specified time, usually thirty-four to thirty-six hours before the retrieval, and that timing is not approximate. It completes the final maturation of the eggs, and the procedure is scheduled around it to the hour.

Take it exactly when instructed. If you miss the window, tell the clinic immediately rather than guessing.

Fasting and the lift home

You will be asked to fast from midnight because of the sedation, and to arrange someone to take you home.

The Morning Itself

What to bring and expect

Comfortable clothes, your identification, your partner if sperm is being provided fresh that day. You will change, be seen by the anaesthetist, and have a cannula placed.

Expect waiting. Lists run to a theatre schedule and a delay is not a sign anything is wrong.

The procedure

You are given sedation, so you will be asleep or deeply drowsy throughout and will not remember it. A needle is guided through the vaginal wall under ultrasound control, and fluid is drawn from each follicle and passed straight to the embryologist.

It takes roughly fifteen to twenty minutes. There are no incisions and no stitches.

Waking Up

How you will feel

Most women wake with cramping similar to period pain, some grogginess from the sedation, and occasionally mild nausea. You will rest in recovery for an hour or two and usually go home the same morning.

The rules for the rest of the day

You cannot drive, and you should not make decisions, sign anything or be alone for the rest of the day.

The Number You Are Given

Why it drops

This is the part nobody prepares patients for.

The count you hear afterwards is almost always lower than the follicle count from your last scan, and that is expected rather than a failure. Not every follicle contains an egg, and not every egg collected is mature enough to use.

Three different counts

So you may hear three numbers over two days: follicles seen, eggs collected, and mature eggs suitable for fertilisation. Each is smaller than the last. Ask your team beforehand to explain which number they will give you and when, so it lands with context instead of landing cold.

The Rest of the Day and the Days After

What is normal

Cramping that eases over twenty-four to forty-eight hours, light spotting for a day or two, and bloating that can persist for several days because the ovaries remain enlarged.

Most women feel substantially better the next day. Many return to desk work within a day or two, though there is no prize for rushing it.

What helps

Paracetamol as advised, a heat pad, fluids, and moving gently rather than lying completely still. Avoid heavy lifting, vigorous exercise and intercourse until your team clears you, mainly because enlarged ovaries can twist.

When to Call Rather Than Wait

Fever, heavy vaginal bleeding, severe or escalating abdominal pain, fainting, shoulder-tip pain, difficulty breathing or significantly reduced urine output all warrant contacting the clinic the same day.

Rapidly increasing abdominal swelling with weight gain may indicate ovarian hyperstimulation, which needs assessment rather than observation at home. Complications after retrieval are uncommon, and they are managed well when reported early.

What Happens Next

In the laboratory

The eggs go to the laboratory, where they are either inseminated conventionally or injected individually by ICSI. You get the fertilisation result the following morning.

Then transfer or freezing

From there, embryos are cultured for three to five days before transfer, or vitrified if a freeze-all has been planned. The NHS walkthrough of an IVF cycle sets out the same sequence, and our patient journey page covers how it runs here.

Retrieval is also the central step in egg freezing, where the eggs are vitrified instead of fertilised.

To discuss IVF treatment in Gurgaon or what your own fertility assessment suggests, call +91 73037 08364.

Written for general guidance. What happens on your own retrieval day will be explained by your treating team, who know your cycle.