Test tube baby process

Meaning, History, and Process of IVF

The first test-tube baby was born in 1978. The child conceived through in vitro fertilization has since given hope to millions of childless couple all over the world. To begin with in vitro fertilization (IVF) as an assisted reproductive technology where fertilization takes place in a lab instead of the female body.  In vitro, in fact, is a Latin term which translates into “within the glass”, and is generally referred to a process taking place in a laboratory setting. The opposite of in vitro is in vivo which means "within the body”.

Today IVF has become pretty common. So far more than 6 million babies have been conceived through this procedure. There is no difference between these so-called “test-tube babies” and other children conceived through the natural way.

Quick Facts and Figures related to the History of IVF

The road to successful IVF treatment was not easy by any stretch of the imagination.  Today IVF has become mainstream and successful thanks to the perseverance and hard work of the early scientists and doctors.

The technology, in fact, has been quite old with Dr. Gregory Pincus performing first fertilization of an animal's egg in a lab in 1934. The animal in question was a rabbit.

In 1951, DR. Landrum Shettles takes Dr. Pincus process a step further managing to keep the fertilized egg developing for six days.

The watershed moment for the technology came in 1977 in England when Dr. Robert Edwards and Dr. Patrick Steptoe retrieve an egg from Lesley Brown and fertilized it with John Brown's sperm sample in lab settings. The first test-tube baby, a girl Louise Joy Brown was born in 1978 marking anew revolution in IVF treatment. The world's second IVF baby and first boy are born on January 4th, 1978.

Working of In Vitro Fertilization

The test-tube baby the process works as follows:

First and foremost the women take fertility drugs prescribed by the physician to enhance the generation of eggs in the ovaries. The egg is then retrieved from the mother or an egg donor through an ultrasound-guided needle. The egg is then fertilized with the sperm of the father or a donor in a petri dish. The fertilized egg cell is called embryo. The embryo is allowed to develop for a few more days in the lab under highly controlled conditions.

After this, the healthiest embryos are taken and then transferred into the mother’s uterus. Leftover embryos are frozen for future cycles. The doctor's post-transfer of embryos hope that pregnancy will result. With the advancement in medical technology, IVF success rates have gone up drastically but there is still no 100% guarantee that a pregnancy will indeed occur.

What Is a “Test Tube Baby?”

"Test tube baby” is generally used to refer to babies that are conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF). This is a misconception because contrary to what the name suggests, “test-tube babies" are not developed in a test tube but fertilized in a petri dish. The embryo is transferred to the uterus within three to five days.

Also, it is important to note that embryo does not develop into a fetus in the lab. The embryo that is transferred is a collection of living and developing cells and not a fetus by any means.