In vitro fertilisation

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a way to let sperm fertilise egg cells outside of the womb. IVF is used so that infertile women may still have children.

Methods

IVF is done by:

1. Injecting a chemical drug to stop a woman's menstrual cycle
2. Injecting FSH so that an ova is released from the woman's ovaries
3. HCG is injected to loosen the ova
4. The ova is removed from the vagina
5. A sample of sperm is taken
6. The sperm and egg are added together and a sperm will fertilise an egg
7. The fertilised egg (zygote) is then injected into the woman's uterus

History

Louise Brown, a female born in 1978 in Manchester, England, was the first ever person to be born as a result of in vitro fertilisation.

Some religious organisations believe that adoption is a better course of action for infertile couples. They think IVF is wrong because it involves inspecting embryos for defects to destroy and often results in the destruction of spare embryos. For those who believe that a person is formed at conception, this is considered killing.

Other websites

• Guide to infertility (HFEA) Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine