Hello steemians !!!
With the discovery of In-vitro fertilization , medicine has achieved a great milestone. A Dream of many infertile mother to carry a baby in their womb has become Reality. This is a miracle in medical science .
This article is dedicated to all those beautiful minded people who believe in MIRACLE.

---

Louise Brown is the first lucky test tube baby born on 25 July 1978, in Oldham General Hospital, UK.
Till date more than 7 million have born with In-vitro fertilization technique.

WHAT IS IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION(IVF)???

It is a process of fertilisation where an egg fuses with sperm outside the body, in vitro ("in glass"). The ova from the mother is taken out and is combined with sperm in a laboratory. All the essential environment is provided along with nutrients and adequate temperature. After the formation of healthy embryo , it is inserted back into the womb( uterus ).

Although it looks simple in paper , the method is not easy. It requires a trained professional and detail counselling. Counselling of mother is considered most important factor .

HISTORY

1.John Rock was the first person to extract an intact fertilised egg.

2.In 1959, Min Chang at the Worcester Foundation, proved fertilisation in vitro was capable of proceeding to a birth (Done in live rabbit).

3.In 1973, the first pregnancy achieved through in vitro human fertilisation was reported from the Monash University team of Carl Wood, John Leeton and Alan Trounson although it lasted only a few days.

In 1977, Dr. patrick Steptoe and Dr. Robert Edwards successfully carried conception in vitro as a result Louise Brown was born.
For this successful result , Robert Edwards was awarded Nobel prize in medicine/physiology in 2010.Because the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously, Steptoe was not eligible.

Dr. Edwards, right, with Dr. Patrick Steptoe source

STEPS OF IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION

Basically there are five steps :-
Step 1 - Egg stimulation
Step 2 - Egg Retrieval
Step 3 - Fertilization by sperm
step 4 - storage of fertilized embryo
Step 5 - Transfer of egg and quality of Embryo

Before going to the steps, it is very essential to counsel the patient. Is the patient suitable for conceiving child ? If yes, then further steps should be done.

Step 1 - Egg Stimulation:-
patient is given hormonal medication to stimulate production of egg. For the better result as many as 10-12 eggs are required. It is not good to relay on single egg. Due to this reason ovarian hyperstimulation is done. There are various protocol for ovarian stimulation . Generally, gonadotropin (FSH) is injected with close monitoring.

Step 2 - Egg Retrieval:-
Retrieval of ovarian follicle is done under Imaging ultra sound. Ovarian follicles are taken out with the help of hollow needle.
This procedure takes about half an hour. The follicular fluids are carefully examined by embryologist .

After the examination of eggs they are preserved in incubator till insemination.

Step 3 - Fertilization by sperm
For insemination ,male sperm sample is collected.
There is two method of fertilization:-Conventional and ICSI ( intracytoplasmic sperm injection)
In conventional , sperm are allowed to fertilize itself. But in ICSI, sperm is injected directly to egg.

step 4 - storage of fertilized embryo
Fertilised egg is kept in incubator with adequate nutrients and temperature. They are kept for 4-6 days where they multiply.

source

Step 5 - Transfer of egg and quality of Embryo
Before transfer they are carefully examined. Embryo is assessed on the basis of quality (and age).
During transferring, doctor inserts Cather and pushes embryo in the uterus
This is done under guidance of ultra sound. Patient is then advised to take rest for 5- 6 hours.

After this pregnancy test is done to ensure exact situation.

WHEN IVF IS REQUIRED ??

This is required in following conditions:-
1)Problem with sperm: when male partner sperm is not in adequate quantity or non motile.

2)Problem with ovulation: For releasing the healthy eggs by stimulation.

3)Problems with Fallopian tube: In tubal blockage.

4)Surrogacy:- if the female is unable to conceive a child, then the baby is conceived in the womb of other female. this is called surrogacy.

5)Genetic Testing: To concieve healthy child.

6)Single parent :- this is gaining more popularity these days.

RISK OF IVF

1.Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome :- Due to hyperstimulation of ovary by certain hormone like hcg( human chorionic gonadotropin) ovary may swell up and become painful. It is quite rare.

2.Ectopic Pregnancy -This can happen to around 2-5% women.

3.Multiple births-It is one of the major complication of test tube baby process. This happens when more than one healthy embryo is transferred to the womb. Multiple births can cause miscarriage, early labor, low birth weight and other obstetrical complication.

4.Complications during egg retrieval-
During retrieval hollow needle is used which may cause damage to the blood vessels leading to bleeding, bowel, bladder and may lead to infection.

WHO MAY NOT BENEFIT FROM THIS??

In woman above 35 yr it is somewhat difficult. Egg production slows down and egg are not healthy. Also chances of getting pregnant is low.
But remember, Adriana Iliescu hold the record as the oldest woman to give birth using IVF at the age of 66 yrs.

ABOUT LOUISE JOY BROWN

source

---

SOURCE:-
Wikipedia
Clinicsspots

---

That's it for today. I will come with next topic in comming days.
DON'T FORGET TO RESTEEM AND UPVOTE