In Vitro Fertilisation

Since the first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was delivered in 1978, fertility treatment has come a long way and has helped to deliver over 1 million babies worldwide. It is now used as the primary treatment for a wide range of fertility problems.

How it works

Each fresh IVF cycle has five main steps:

Step 1 - Down regulation

For two to three weeks you take a drug in the form of a nasal spray or injection to temporarily switch off the hormonal messages from the brain to the ovaries, preventing ovulation.

Step 2 - Ovarian stimulation

Daily injections stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs. These are monitored by ultrasound scan and when they reach the right size, another drug is given to ripen the eggs and prepare them for removal.

Step 3 - Egg retrieval

The fluid within each follicle is gently sucked out and given to the embryologists who search for the egg using a microscope. This procedure takes about 20 minutes and almost all women are fully recovered and able to go home after a couple of hours.

Step 4 - Insemination

Sperm and eggs are incubated overnight in a special fluid that provides them with all the right nutrients to allow fertilisation to occur. The next morning, the eggs are checked for signs of fertilisation.

Step 5 - Embryo transfer

Embryos are placed gently inside the womb on the second, third or fifth day after egg retrieval. Embryo transfer is an outpatient procedure which takes only a few minutes to perform.