In vitro fertilisation

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a way to let sperm fertilise egg cells outside of the womb. IVF is used so that infertile women may still have children. IVF is done by:

1. Injecting a chemical drug to stop a woman's menstrual cycle
2. Injecting FSH so that an ova is released from the woman's ovaries
3. HCG is injected to loosen the ova
4. The ova is removed from the vagina
5. A sample of sperm is taken
6. The sperm and egg are added together and a sperm will fertilise an egg
7. The fertilised egg (zygote) is then injected into the woman's uterus

Louise Brown, a female born in 1978 in Manchester, England, was the first ever person to be born as a result of in vitro fertilisation.

Some religious organisations believe that adoption is a better course of action for infertile couples. They think IVF is wrong because it is unnatural.

The success rate of IVF

IVF success rate among young women worldwide is around 35-40%. In India this figure is around 30-35%. Overall, the success rate of having a baby in the first IVF cycle is around 33% which increases to 50-70% by the 8th cycle. This success rate is measured in terms of the number of live births.

Other websites

• Guide to infertility (HFEA) Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Test Tube Babies Archived 2009-05-09 at the Wayback Machine on dab PBS
• Who is suitable for IVF Treatment?
• How to make IVF successful the first time?
• Pregnancy test after IVF frozen embryo transfer