Test tube babies, as they are commonly known, are created using IVF or In Vitro Fertilization which literally means fertilization in glass. Eggs are fertilized in a laboratory dish with sperm and then place inside the woman’s womb. In Vitro Fertilization is recommended if you are an older woman, have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, those whose tubes are blocked, or if other techniques have been unsuccessful.

Although techniques for In Vitro Fertilization vary, a normal method of IVF would go something like this. At first your physician will halt the release of hormones that are produced during your monthly cycle by giving you some drugs. Blocking the hormones helps the doctor have greater control over your egg production. Further drugs are given to ensure your ovaries create more than a single egg.

To monitor your developing eggs, vaginal ultrasound scans are taken as well as blood tests to ensure that the eggs are increasing the estrogen level. To help the eggs mature a different hormone will be injected once all the tests say the time is right. The reason for this is that the eggs will be collected between 34 and 38 hours later, even if it is the middle of the night. Eggs are usually collected by ultrasound guidance which takes around 30 minutes and you are either given a drug to make you drowsy or a general anesthetic.

Around the time the woman’s eggs are collected, the male produces a fresh sample of sperm. The health of the sperm is important so after a short storage period they are spun at high speed after being washed so only the healthiest and most active are used. For a woman using donated sperm, the same process is used once the sperm has been taken from the freezer. The process then continues with the eggs and sperm left for 16 to 20 hours in a laboratory dish to mix and after that period, checked to see if they have fertilized. Any embryo’s that have fertilized abnormally or not at all, are discarded, then those remaining are left for another 24 to 48 hours prior to a final check.

In order to help prepare your womb, pessaries, gel or an injection are given two days after your eggs have been collected. It is normally one but sometimes two eggs are chosen to be placed in the womb via the cervix using a catheter, two to five days after fertilization. If there are any suitable embryos left after this they may be frozen for any future IVF attempts that may be required.

Many people believe that the failure rate for In Vitro Fertilization is high but it is actually comparable to natural conception. The chances of you having a baby, though, are slightly lower as women may miscarry early on, just as in natural conception. Female fertility diminishes with age, so if you are using your own eggs, the younger you are, the higher your chances of success. To illustrate this point, after the age of 40 only one in ten women will have a child after In Vitro Fertilization treatment but if the woman is under 30 then this figure rises to one in four.