The Day of the Procedure: The Retrieval
An egg follicle, which resembles a blister, is filled with fluid. The egg itself floats within the fluid. Although a follicle may measure some 20 millimeters in length (slightly less than an inch), the egg itself is microscopic. One hundred eggs would fit on the head of a pin.

A sonographic probe will be used to guide the needle through the vagina and into the ovaries, where it will extract the fluid from the follicles. The patient will feel a pinch on each side as the needle penetrates the ovary.

Once the procedure has been completed, the embryologist will separate the eggs from the aspirated fluid and prepare them for fertilization.