We described a study designed to assess the pain experienced by in vitro fertilization patients undergoing transvaginal ultrasonography-guided oocyte recovery. Participants were 164 women who underwent 194 oocyte recovery procedures at a university teaching hospital. Measurements of the intensity of pain and the quality of pain were obtained immediately after the procedure and again 1 hour later. Results show that the majority of patients reported manageable levels of discomfort, and that there was a marked reduction in both intensity and qualitative complexity over time, which suggests there were minimal residual effects. Repeated measures analyses of data from participants who underwent the procedure on two occasions suggest that familiarity with the procedure has no effect on reported pain. Finally, patients' levels of pain correlated significantly with several psychological self-report measures.