In Vitro Fertilization is the process in which

infertile women, or women with husbands that are infertile,

can have children.

Popularly known as "test tube" fertilization, In Vitro

Fertilization is Latin for "in glass" fertilization.

The first "test tube" baby was born in 1978. How was

this done? Well, I'll tell you the most scientific

explanation about this amazing method of artificial

insemination.

Four elements are necessary for In Vitro Fertilization

to take place. First, you must have ripe eggs from the women

to be fertilized. Second, You must have the man's sperm.

Next, a proper environment should be found to mix the egg

and the sperm to achieve fertilization. Finally, you must

also have an environment to support the development of the

embryo.

The first step in preparing a human egg for

fertilization in vitro is the collection of the

pre-ovulatory eggs. Physicians must obtain these eggs during

their final stages of maturation just before ovulation.

The actual retrieval of the eggs begins when the

surgeon administers to the woman a general anesthetic in

preparation for the recovery off the eggs. The physician

then makes a small incision in the woman's abdomen near the

navel, inserts a lapraoscope, and then guides it through the

abdominal cavity to the ovary. The laparoscope is a long,

thin fiberoptic tube approximately 0.33 inches in diameter.

It contains a light and an optical system that enables the

surgeon to see the ovaries. The surgeon then retrieves the

eggs.

There is also another way of doing this. It is called

transvaginal ultrasound-directed oocyte (egg) retrieval. In

this procedure, the eggs are obtained from the ovaries by

inserting a needle through the vaginal wall instead of

through the abdominal wall.

After collecting the egg from the women, you must get

the sperm from the man, this is done by the man performing

masturbation to produce semen. After that is done the

collected semen is washed in a liquid substance and spun in

a centrifuge to separate the sperm from the seminal fluid.

As much as the seminal fluid is to the sperm in certain

ways, it contains some fertilizing-inhibiting substances.

The next step brings together the reproductive cells

for the process of fertilization. A skilled technician

removes the eggs from the incubator that they had to be left

in for 1 hour, and places one in a petri dish in a small

droplet of media. They then administer a few drops of the

highly concentrated sperm onto the egg. The eggs and the

sperm are then placed in an incubator for 24 hours, if all

goes well, fertilization will occur.

If that method doesn't work, there is another way. The

sperm can be placed directly into the egg with a very fine

needle by micro-injection, this will then provide a better

chance for fertilization if the other method fails.

Shortly after fertilization, the embryo is placed in

another environment that is prepared specifically to support

embryonic development. At this time the physician will

insert the embryo into the woman's uterus.

Two days after fertilization, the fertilized egg has

developed into and embryo of at least two to eight cells

called the blastocyst. At this stage the physician assumes

that the embryo is ready for the introduction into the

uterus of the mother. The physician instructs the woman to

assume a position, then the physician draws the embryo into

a long catheter (a small tube). The doctor then introduces

the catheter through a larger tube previously inserted into

the uterus through the vagina and then flushes the embryo

into the uterus. The women slowly lowers herself into a

lying position, making sure not to shift suddenly, which

might lower the chance for implantation. She lies flat on

her stomach for four hours before she is allowed to resume

normal activity. Obviously you have to be very careful and

serious when going through this procedure.

If and when the fertilization was a success the embryo

will grow and develop just as if the egg was fertilized

naturally.

Many externally fertilized eggs fail to implant when

inserted in the uterus, several variations on IVF have been

developed.

For example, with Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer

(GIFT), unfertilized eggs and sperm are mixed and inserted

into the oviduct (fallopian tube). This procedure by passes

a mechanical blockage in the upper oviduct while permitting

fertilization and implantation to proceed naturally.

The In Vitro Fertilization technique has become so

popular that there are more than 100 clinics in the United

States and, according to a new estimate, a new IVF baby is

born every day somewhere in the world. It may seem that In

Vitro Fertilization is a very successful way of

reproduction, but as a matter of fact it is not. Only twenty

percent of IVF fertilizations result in a birth of a child.

Some couples spend thousands of dollars on IVF only to be

disappointed.

Until doctors and physicians research and find

something more effective and successful, women will have to

wait for their chance to have a child, but with a little

hope and a little help from In Vitro Fertilization, it may

raise infertile women's chances of having a baby.