Here's a very brief discussion of some of the more common techniques in assisted reproduction. Researchers have developed many high-tech approaches to assist in restoring fertility. With IVF-ET, the ovaries are stimulated with medication to produce several ripe eggs at the same time. When they are ready, the eggs are removed, usually under local anesthesia, using ultrasound to guide a catheter through the vagina into the abdominal cavity. The eggs are incubated under special conditions and then the sperm is added.
Fertilization occurs in the laboratory, hence the term test-tube baby.
Next, several of the pre-embryos are placed through the cervix into the uterine cavity. This improves the chance of success but also increases the odds of a multiple pregnancy. With GIFT, the ovaries are stimulated in the same fashion, but the eggs are harvested using a laparoscope. At the same time, a mixture of eggs and sperm is placed into the fallopian tubes. Another new treatment is intracytoplasmic sperm injection, which only requires one sperm to achieve a pregnancy.