IVF Abbreviations and Acronyms Explained

If you are going through IVF, about to start, or thinking about it, you’ll read the information online or in forums like Facebook Groups and find that there is a whole other language being spoken! The number of IVF abbreviations and acronyms seems to be endless, and when I first started I had no idea what people were talking about! Hence, this list. I now know some of the common ones, and have used them in a few blog posts – but before you start panicking, thinking that you won’t be able to understand them if I use one, I will always explain what it means.

The list of IVF abbreviations and acronyms below is the most common ones used and I have expanded on some of the meanings to make life easier so that you have everything in one place!

2WW: 2 week-wait
AC: Assisted conception (medical interventions to help couples get pregnant, such as IVF)
AH: Assisted Hatching (a procedure where we can help the embryo “hatch” from its “shell” by creating a small crack in the zona pellucida)
AHR: Assisted Human Reproduction
AI: Assisted or Artificial Insemination
AMH: Anti-Mullerian Hormone (test indicating ovarian reserve) 
ANA: Anti-nuclear Antibodies, the ANA test can help confirm or exclude the diagnosis of systemic rheumatic disease.
AO: Anovulatory, the lack of ovulation, ie no egg is released.
ART: Assisted Reproductive Technologies
BBT: Basal body temperature, this is your at-rest body temperature.
BCP: Birth Control Pills
BD: Baby dance aka sex
Beta: Blood test for pregnancy
BFN: Big Fat Negative (pregnancy test)
BFP: Big Fat Positive (pregnancy test)
BMI: Body Mass Index
CD: Cycle Day, the first day of your period.
CH: Crosshairs – the lines drawn on the chart to indicate ovulation.
Clomid: A medication used to jump-start ovulation
CM: Cervical mucous, also known as cervical fluid. It is fluid produced by your cervix as you approach ovulation due to increased estrogen.
COH: Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation
CP: Cervical Position
DP3DT: Days post 3-day embryo transfer
DP5DT: Days post 5-day embryo transfer
DE: Donor Eggs
DEm: Donor Embryo, made up of donor egg and donor sperm
DPO: Days past ovulation
DRC: Downregulation cycle, the name given to the process of using medication to shut down your natural menstrual cycle, in effect causing artificial menopause.
DOR: Diminished Ovarian Reserve, a condition in which the ovary loses its normal reproductive potential, compromising fertility.
ED: Egg Donor
EDD: Estimated due date
EPT: Early pregnancy test
EPU: Egg pick up / egg collection (also known as OPU)
ER/ET: Embryo Retrieval/Transfer
EWCM: Egg white cervical mucus (fertile cervical mucus)
FET: Frozen embryo transfer
FMU: First-morning urine
FS: Fertility specialist
FSH: Follicle Stimulating Hormone
GIFT: Gamete intra-fallopian tube transfer. This uses multiple eggs collected from the ovaries. The eggs are placed into a thin, flexible tube (catheter) along with the sperm to be used. The gametes (both eggs and sperm) are then injected into the fallopian tubes using a surgical procedure called laparoscopy.
GnRH: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone causes the pituitary gland in the brain to make and secrete the hormones luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
GD: Gestational Diabetes
GS: Gestational Surrogate, when the surrogate has a fertilised embryo transferred into her.
HcG: Hormone detected by pregnancy tests. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
HPT: Home pregnancy test. Measures levels of the hormone hcG, which is produced in pregnancy.
HSG: Hysterosalpingogram, a fertility test where fluid is run through the fallopian tubes to check for blockages.
ICSI: Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection, where a single sperm is injected into the egg.
IUI: Intra-uterine insemination, sperm that have been washed and concentrated are placed directly in your uterus around the time your ovary releases one or more eggs to be fertilised.
IVF: In-vitro fertilisation
IVM: In Vitro Maturation is when a woman’s eggs are collected and matured outside the body.
LAP: Laparoscopy, a surgical diagnostic procedure used to examine the organs inside the abdomen. 
LH: Luteinizing Hormone, a gonadotrophic hormone produced and released by cells in the anterior pituitary gland, an acute rise of LH triggers ovulation. 
LMP: Last menstrual period. The first day of your last period.
LP: Luteal Phase occurs after ovulation (when your ovaries release an egg) and before your period starts. Your body gets ready for pregnancy
LPD: Luteal Phase Defects impact a woman’s ovulation cycle and can make it difficult to experience a healthy pregnancy. This condition is characterized by low progesterone levels and limited uterine lining growth, which can impede egg implantation and fetal development.
Metformin: A diabetes medicine sometimes used for lowering insulin and blood sugar levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This helps regulate menstrual cycles, start ovulation, and lower the risk of miscarriage in women with PCOS. Long-term use also lowers diabetes and heart disease risk related to high insulin levels.
MF/MFI: Male Factor Infertility
O: Ovulation, the release of an egg (ovum) from one of the ovaries.
OHSS: Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome is an exaggerated response to hormones.
OI: Ovulation Induction involves taking medication to induce ovulation by encouraging eggs to develop in the ovaries and be released, increasing the chance of conception through timed intercourse or artificial insemination.
OPK: OPKs measure luteinizing hormone, the last hormone to peak before ovulation.
PCOS: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges.
PGD: Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis is the genetic profiling of embryos before implantation.
PID: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is an infection of the female reproductive organs.
POAS: Pee On A Stick refers to a home pregnancy test.
POF: Premature Ovarian Failure occurs when the ovaries stop functioning normally before age 40.
PUPO: Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise
RE: Reproductive Endocrinologist (Fertility Specialist)
SA: Sperm/Semen Analysis
SMU: Second Morning Urine
TDI: Therapeutic Donor Insemination is a form of artificial insemination that uses donor sperm from an anonymous or known donor. The procedure involves placing previously frozen (thawed) sperm in the uterus at the time of ovulation.
TET: Tubal Embryo Transfer, embryos are transferred into the fallopian tube rather than the transfer of embryos into the uterus.
TR: Tubal Reversal, this procedure usually involves a laparotomy (10-15cm cut on the lower abdomen), where the fallopian tubes are reconnected with tiny stitches under a microscope.
Trigger: hCG shot given to induce ovulation (used in conjunction with Clomid).
TS: Traditional Surrogate, where the surrogate’s egg is used with sperm through AI.
TTC: Trying To Conceive
ZIFT: Zygote intra-fallopian tube transfer embryos are transferred into the fallopian tube rather than the transfer of embryos into the uterus.

I hope you found the IVF abbreviations helpful. Have you tried our Hoopsy Eco Pregnancy Tests, no? Click here to grab yours.