SEX AND INFERTILITY: FERTILIZATION IN GLASS
A number of different techniques to help fertilization are now fairly commonplace. IVF (invitro fertilization) simply means ‘fertilization in glass’. Apart from being the best-known technique, it is probably also the most emotionally draining.
We have become quite familiar with the media images of delighted couples nursing their IVF twins or triplets following years of heartbreaking infertility. The woman’s eggs are collected from her ovaries, mixed in a special glass container with the man’s sperm (collected by masturbation) and, if fertilization occurs, the cells multiply over the next few days and are then inserted into the woman’s uterus. It is literally a bypass of the Fallopian tubes.
If there is at least one healthy Fallopian tube, the GIFT (gamete intrafallopian transfer) technique can help the egg and sperm get together. The man masturbates into a jar to provide the sperm. These are examined and washed by a technician. The washing process ‘energizes’ the sperm which are then transported to the operating theatre. With the woman under a general anesthetic, a laparoscope (a fine tube with a camera attachment) is inserted into her abdomen through the navel and it is used to locate the ovaries. Mature eggs are collected through a suction tube, combined with the sperm and the mixture injected directly back into the Fallopian tube where fertilization hopefully takes place. After that, it’s up to Nature to take its course.
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