Assisted fertilization techniques

1. IN VITRO FERTILIZATION (IVF)
   The original "test tube baby" technique which has been around for about twenty years and has produced thousands of babies. Sperm and egg are brought together outside of the body. Fertilization takes place "normally", i.e. a sperm actively fertilizes the egg, in a petri dish. After a period of time (around three days) during which the fertilized egg(s) have begun to divide and grow, the embryo(s) are replaced into the mothers uterus
   
   
2. GAMETE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER (GIFT)
   Eggs are removed from the mothers ovaries and are mixed with the partners sperm. This mixture is then inserted into the mothers fallopian tube using a special catheter. There is no growth stage outside the body and fertilization takes place in the fallopian tube.
   
   
3. ZYGOTE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER (ZIFT)
   This is a mixture of IVF and GIFT. Eggs are fertilized outside the body. The same day the fertilized eggs (now called zygotes) are placed into the mothers fallopian tube
   
   
4. INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION (ICSI)
   In the IVF, GIFT, and ZIFT methods, the egg has been fertilized naturally. The eggs and sperm have been brought together and a sperm has fertilized an egg without any outside interference. ICSI is used for men with very low sperm counts so that simply placing egg and sperm in a dish together may not allow them to come in contact.
   
   With ICSI a sperm is physically placed inside the egg, thus fertilising it, using a microscopic needle. The method then procedes as for IVF.
   
   
5. TESTICULAR SPERM EXTRACTION (TESE)
   In some men, even though no sperm can be found in the semen, sperm can still be recovered from the testes. This is done by means of a needle biopsy. The material is examined under the microscope and any sperm found can be used for the ICSI procedure.
   
   This method is still relatively new but already several children have been born using it