In vitro fertilisation (IVF) refers to fertilisation that occurs outside of the body (in vitro = 'in glass’)

• It involves using drugs to suspend normal ovulation (down regulation), before using hormone treatments to collect multiple eggs (superovulation)
  

Hormone Treatments

• Drugs are used to halt the regular secretion of FSH and LH – this in turn stops the secretion of estrogen and progesterone
  

  • By arresting the hormonal cycle, doctors can take control of the timing and quantity of egg production by the ovaries
    

• Artificial doses of hormones to develop and collect multiple eggs from the woman (superovulation)
  

  • The patient is firstly injected with large amounts of FSH to stimulate the development of many follicles
    

  • The follicles are then treated with human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) to trigger their maturation and allow for the collection of an egg
    

• Following egg collection, the woman begins to take progesterone treatments to develop the endometrium
  

Fertilisation and Implantation

• Eggs are collected (via aspiration with a needle) prior to the follicles rupturing
  

• The extracted eggs are then combined with sperm from a male donor (via intracytoplasmic sperm injections)
  

• Healthy embryos are selected and transferred into the female uterus (or the uterus of a surrogate)
  

  • Multiple embryos are transferred to improve chances of successful implantation (hence multiple births are a possible outcome)
    

• Roughly two weeks after the procedure, a pregnancy test is taken to determine if the process has been successful
  

IVF Procedure