| In vitro fertilisation | |
|---|---|
 This image shows intracytoplasmic sperm injection, the most commonly used IVF technique. | |
| Specialty | Reproductive endocrinology and infertility |
| ICD-10-PCS | 8E0ZXY1 |
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from her ovaries and enabling a man's sperm to fertilise them in a culture medium in a laboratory. After a fertilised egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for 2–6 days, it is transferred by catheter into the uterus, with the intention of establishing a successful pregnancy.
IVF is a type of assisted reproductive technology used to treat infertility, enable gestational surrogacy, and, in combination with pre-implantation genetic testing, avoid the transmission of abnormal genetic conditions. When a fertilised egg from egg and sperm donors implants in the uterus of a genetically unrelated surrogate, the resulting child is also genetically unrelated to the surrogate. Some countries have banned or otherwise regulated the availability of IVF treatment, giving rise to fertility tourism. Financial cost and age may also restrict the availability of IVF as a means of carrying a healthy pregnancy to term.
In July 1978, Louise Brown was the first child successfully born after her mother received IVF treatment.[1] Brown was born as a result of natural-cycle IVF, where no stimulation was made. The procedure took place at Dr Kershaw's Cottage Hospital (later Dr Kershaw's Hospice) in Royton, Oldham, England. Robert Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2010. (The physiologist co-developed the treatment together with Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy but the latter two were not eligible for consideration as they had died: the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously.)[2][3]
When assisted by egg donation and IVF, many women who (have reached menopause), or have infertile partners or idiopathic female-fertility issues, can still become pregnant. After the IVF treatment, some couples get pregnant without any fertility treatments.[4] In 2023, it was estimated that twelve million children had been born worldwide using IVF and other assisted reproduction techniques.[5] A 2019 study that evaluated the use of 10 adjuncts with IVF (screening hysteroscopy, DHEA, testosterone, GH, aspirin, heparin, antioxidants, seminal plasma and PRP) suggested that (with the exception of hysteroscopy) these adjuncts should be avoided until there is more evidence to show that they are safe and effective.[6]
- ^ "Louise Brown: World's first IVF baby's family archive unveiled". BBC News. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Moreton C (14 January 2007). "World's first test-tube baby Louise Brown has a child of her own". Independent. London. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
The 28-year-old, whose pioneering conception by in-vitro fertilisation made her famous around the world. The fertility specialists Patrick Steptoe and Bob Edwards became the first to successfully carry out IVF by extracting an egg, impregnating it with sperm and planting the resulting embryo back into the mother
- ^ Gosden R (June 2018). "Jean Marian Purdy remembered – the hidden life of an IVF pioneer". Human Fertility. 21 (2): 86–89. doi:10.1080/14647273.2017.1351042. PMID 28881151. S2CID 5045457.
- ^ "After IVF, some couples get pregnant without help". Reuters. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ eClinicalMedicine (November 2023). "The current status of IVF: are we putting the needs of the individual first?". eClinicalMedicine. 65: 102343. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102343. PMC 10725012. PMID 38106562.
- ^ Kamath MS, Mascarenhas M, Franik S, Liu E, Sunkara SK (December 2019). "Clinical adjuncts in in vitro fertilization: a growing list". Fertility and Sterility. 112 (6): 978–986. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2019.09.019. PMID 31703943.