What is In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)?
For patients with irreparably damaged fallopian tubes, profound oligospermia (low sperm counts), or failure to conceive after adequate attempts of intrauterine inseminations, in vitro fertilization (IVF) has become the treatment of choice. The technology involves incubating the oocytes (eggs) and sperm in the laboratory and allowing the resulting embryo(s) to develop for a number of days prior to transferring them into the endometrial cavity. In the 1980’s, pregnancy rates for IVF were relatively low, at approximately 15 percent. As the nutritional requirements for the embryo growth within the laboratory became better understood, conception rates began to increase. As we head into the new millennium, anticipated pregnancy rates for many patients may exceed 50 percent.
In IVF, eggs are surgically removed from the ovary and mixed with sperm outside the body in a dish (“in vitro” is Latin for “in glass”). After about 18 hours, the eggs are examined to see if the sperm has fertilized them. The following day they divide into cells. These fertilized eggs (embryos) are then placed in the women’s uterus (the implant) three to five days after the removal.
IVF is the process whereby fertilization of the egg by a sperm occurs in the laboratory. The woman takes medications to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs. The eggs are then removed from her body while she is under intravenous sedation. The eggs and sperms are combined in the laboratory, where fertilization is allowed to take place. The highest quality embryos are then placed into the woman’s uterus. Pregnancy success rates are influenced strongly by the woman’s age.
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