Ivf - In Vitro Fertilisation

Part I of Essay
10, 000 Australian couples are treated with IVF each year. The expensive and rather risky program (costing around $4000 excluding overheads) allows infertile couples to achieve pregnancy when conventional therapy has failed or is unacceptable. The procedure involves placin ....

Part II of Essay
.... most active and healthy sperm are selected by forcing them to swim through a culture medium. - The egg and sperm are placed together in a suitable medium for fertilisation to occur in a culture dish. If fertilisation does not occur after 72 hours, the oocytes (incompletely developed eggs) and sperm are disposed of. The resulting embryos are observed for the next few days. - A small plastic tube is inserted through cervix to place embryos into the uterus. The patient is able to go home a few hours later with minimal discomfort. Durin ....