Test tube babies, as they are commonly known, are created using IVF or In Vitro Fertilization which literally means fertilization in glass. The woman’s eggs are taken from her ovaries and then in a laboratory dish, fertilized with sperm before being inserted into her womb. Women who use In Vitro Fertilization are often recommended this method when others have failed or because they are older.

Techniques of In Vitro Fertilization differ from clinic to clinic but a typical pattern of treatment might go like this: The first thing your doctor will do is to stop the hormones released by the pituitary gland during your period by the use of other drugs. This allows them better control over when your eggs are produced. You then take different drugs to make your ovaries produce more than one egg.

Genetics And IVF...

Vaginal ultrasound scans are carried out to monitor your developing eggs along with blood tests to chart the rising levels of estrogen produced by the eggs. As soon as the tests show that the time is right, you will have another injection of a different hormone to help your eggs mature. This injection is given 34 to 38 hours before the eggs will be collected to the timing of this is very important. Collecting the eggs takes about 30 minutes and is carried out using ultrasound guidance so often either drugs or a general anesthetic is given to make you feel more relaxed.

It’s about this time that the man must produce some fresh sperm. After a short storage period the sperm are washed and spun at high speed to enable the most active and healthiest to be chosen. For a woman using donated sperm, the same process is used once the sperm has been taken from the freezer. The process can take between 16 and 20 hours during which time the sperm and eggs are allowed to mix in a laboratory dish before they are inspected to find out if the fertilization was successful. Any embryo’s that have fertilized abnormally or not at all, are discarded, then those remaining are left for another 24 to 48 hours prior to a final check.

Once your eggs have been collected there is a waiting period of two days, then you are given pessaries, an injection or gel to ready the lining of your womb.

Genetics And IVF

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