What is in vitro fertilisation (IVF) ?
For many couples who have exhausted traditional clinical and surgical treatments for infertility, these new technologies may offer the best hope for pregnancy. Through these procedures, women with otherwise untreatable infertility have given birth to healthy babies. IVF or In-vitro Fertilisation means fertilisation outside the body.

IVF is a method of assisted reproduction in which a man's sperm and a woman's egg are combined in a culture dish. Once fertilisation is established, the resulting embryos are left for 1-4 days to check that they are growing and then transferred into the woman's womb. If the treatment has been successful, one or more embryos will implant in the lining of the uterus and each embryo will develop into a fetus and placenta. In ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection), the sperm is directly injected into the egg.

The procedure involves stimulating the woman's ovaries to produce oocytes (eggs). These eggs are then removed by a simple technique and are made to mix with the sperms in the laboratory. This technique is called In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). In the case of Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) the sperm is robotically injected into the cytoplasm of the egg. The resultant embryo that is produced in the laboratory is then inserted into the woman's uterus for continuation of the pregnancy.