The test-tube baby technique

IVF means fertilization outside the body in a test tube. Since the birth of Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby in 1978, IVF has resulted in over 3,000,000 babies worldwide. Pregnancy rates and live birth rates have improved over the past few years, leading to a steady increase in the number of IVF treatment cycles performed worldwide. For example in the USA, a total of 142,241 IVF cycles using own eggs and a total of 15,099 IVF cycles using donor eggs were performed in 2009(SART report).

To whom IVF is advised?

There are several groups to whom IVF treatment may be advised that include:

• Women with blocked, damaged Fallopian tubes or inoperable tubes or whose tubes have been removed after ectopic pregnancies.
• Women with endometriosis.
• Women with cervical mucus problems.
• Men with infertility problems.
• Men or women with immunological infertility problems.
• Couples with unexplained infertility.