TEST TUBE BABY
If you are wondering what is test tube baby and IVF, whether both the terms are related, let us try to understand them in detail. Test tube baby is a term that refers to a child that is conceived outside the women’s body by a scientific process known as In-Vitro fertilization or IVF treatment. This entire process is done in a laboratory. In this process the eggs are taken from the mother’s ovary and fertilized by the sperms from the father. The fertilized egg is cultured for 2–6 days and allowed to divided 2-4 times inside a test tube (hence the name test tube baby) These eggs are then returned back to the mother’s uterus where it can be developed normally, this is done with the intention to establish a successful pregnancy.
Procedure
Steps 1 –
Egg stimulation: Patient is given fertility medications to stimulate the production of egg.
- Egg stimulation is guided by Transvaginal ultrasound to examine ovaries, blood samples and to determine the level of hormones.
- To increase the success rate of the treatment multiple eggs are needed. Usually it not advisable to rely on single egg for which the doctor gives fertility drug to increase the production of eggs.
Step 2 –
Egg Retrieval: Imaging ultra sound is used to retain ovarian follicles with the help of hollow needle. Retrieval of egg is followed with minor surgery
- Complete procedure takes about half an hour. The follicular fluids are carefully seen by embryologist to trace the proof of available eggs.
Step 3 – Culture of Fertilization and Embryo: For insemination male sperm sample is collected
- Eggs are mixed with the sperms and stored in laboratory
- If there are chances of low probability of fertilization, ICSI can be considered.
Step 4 – Transfer of egg and quality of Embryo: Embryo transfer is the quickest method done in overall treatment
- Embryo is assessed on the basis of age and superiority.
- Doctor is asked to keep the full history of the patient starting from age to previous treatment, but the end decision is taken by patient itself
