• IVF is a process, outside the body where a sperm fertilizes an egg
• The process occurs in a petridish which contains the culture medium placed inside a carbon dioxide incubator in a laboratory
• The zygote which forms is then cultured further into an embryo or blastocyst and then transferred into the patient’s womb with the intention of forming a pregnancy which is successful.
• The process was done to treat the fallopian tube pathology, which gave rise to female infertility.
• Initially, the patient is stimulated by giving drugs, which form multiple follicles in the ovary.
• These follicles are then ‘picked up’ by a minor USG guided procedure called ovum pick up, so as to retrieve the eggs
• A semen sample is then collected from the husband, which is then processed.
• The sperm and egg are then mixed together and incubated so that fertilization can take place
• After 20 hours, eggs are checked to see whether fertilization has taken place.
• For 2-5 days the growing embryos are cultured in an incubator.

The embryos or blastocysts are graded and then transferred back into the uterus using an embryo transfer catheter.