Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List
| | A | | | B | | | C | | | D | | | E | | | F | | | G | | | H | | | I | | | J | | | K | | | L | | | M | |
| | N | | | O | | | P | | | Q | | | R | | | S | | | T | | | U | | | V | | | W | | | X | | | Y | |
How is it performed? of IVF
The main IVF technique was developed in the 1970’s. This involves giving the woman fertility drugs to stimulate egg production, and then surgically retrieving the eggs from the ovaries. She is then given hormones to prepare her uterus for pregnancy, while the eggs are fertilised with the sperm in a laboratory. The embryos are then implanted into the woman’s uterus, and if all goes well a normal pregnancy is achieved.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's code of practice for clinics, states the number of embryo transfers should be limited to two for most women. However,women over 40, whose chances of a baby are smaller may have more than two embryos transfers.
IVF procedures developed more recently include Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). This helps those men for whom the ‘standard’ IVF technique would fail, e.g. if their sperm are unable to penetrate the egg, to achieve pregnancy with their partner.
Egg selection enables only the healthiest eggs to be taken from the ovaries for fertilisation. It can be useful for women with diminished number and quality of eggs. Procedures such as sperm washing can also be carried out to only retrieve sperm strong and healthy enough for inclusion in IVF techniques. This is particularly successful with men who have a low sperm count.
New assisted conception techniques are constantly being developed, and existing procedures refined. For example, 3D ultrasound can now be used to detect pre-pregnancy fertility problems, such as blocked fallopian tubes.
