Planning an IVF Cycle Around a Summer Break

Of all the procedures people travel for, IVF is one of the least forgiving of a rushed timeline — and one of the best suited to a real summer break. Here's what a realistic cycle actually looks like on the calendar.

The three phases, roughly mapped

• Days 1–10: Ovarian stimulation. Daily medication and monitoring appointments, most of which can be scheduled around light activity — this isn't a bed-rest phase.
• Days 10–12: Egg retrieval. A minor procedure under light sedation, with a short recovery window of a day or two before you're back to normal activity.
• Days 12–17: Embryo development and transfer. Embryos are monitored for 3–5 days before the strongest candidates are selected for transfer — see our AI embryo selection explainer for how that selection process works.

Fresh vs. frozen: the decision that changes your timeline

A fresh transfer keeps everything inside one continuous trip. A frozen transfer splits the process into two shorter visits — retrieval on one trip, transfer on a later one, often after PGT testing results come back. We break down the trade-offs fully in our one-trip vs. two-trip guide.

What comes after transfer

The two-week wait between transfer and a pregnancy blood test is exactly what it sounds like — and it doesn't require staying in Colombia. Most patients fly home during this window and complete the blood test with a local provider, coordinating results back with their Colombian clinic.

Building the trip around this

Working backward from a summer window: book your consultation 8–10 weeks ahead, start stimulation medication timed to your cycle (your clinic will confirm the exact start date based on your own cycle, not a fixed calendar date), and plan close to 3 weeks on the ground for a fresh cycle. If a summer trip genuinely can't accommodate 3 weeks, a frozen-transfer approach splits that time commitment across two shorter visits instead.