In vitro fertilization (IVF) / Test Tube Baby

IVF means fertilization outside of the body. In vitro literally means in glass (that is, in a laboratory dish or test tube). IVF is mainly used in couples whose infertility is caused by blocked Fallopian tubes, or unexplained infertility.

IVF Procedure:
Fertility drugs 
In a normal menstrual cycle you release one egg per month. Your odds of getting pregnant are better with more eggs and using fertility drugs increases the number of mature eggs that are released. It’s recommended that IVF be offered with fertility drugs to stimulate your ovaries as you have a better chance of pregnancy as a result. 

Egg retrieval and sperm collection
Ultrasound is used to detect when your eggs are ready to be retrieved. Doctor will then remove the eggs from your ovaries. Doctor will use a fine, hollow needle attached to an ultrasound scan probe. The probe helps to locate the follicles that contain the eggs. While your eggs are being collected, your partner will need to provide a fresh sample of semen. If donated sperm or frozen sperm are being used, the sample is taken from the freezer. The sperm is washed and the best-quality sperm extracted ready to fertilize the eggs. The sperm is then combined with the eggs in a dish and left to culture in an incubator. 

Fertilization and embryo transfer
Within one day of combining the eggs and sperm, the dish is checked to see if any eggs have been fertilized. If they have, they’ll be kept for between two days and five days before being transferred back into your uterus. Any fertilized eggs will each have become a ball of cells called an embryo. They may also be referred to by your specialist as blastocysts, if the embryos are being transferred at the later blastocyst stage, at about day five. The healthiest embryos are chosen to be inserted into your uterus.  By now you will have been helping your uterus (womb) to prepare for the embryo by taking progesterone, which helps thicken its lining. You receive this by injection, pessary or gel. Usually, one or two embryos are transferred with a thin catheter (tube) through your cervix into your uterus. Your fertility specialist may use ultrasound to guide him.