In vitro fertilisation (IVF)

• In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process by which an egg is fertilised by sperm outside the body:in vitro. The term in vitro from the Latin means in glass 

• IVF is a major treatment for infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed. 

• The process involves monitoring a woman's ovulatory process, removing ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a fluid medium in a laboratory

• When a woman's natural cycle is monitored to collect a naturally selected ovum (egg) for fertilisation, it is known as natural cycle IVF

• The fertilised egg (zygote) is then transferred to the patient's uterus with the intention of establishing a successful pregnancy

• The first successful birth of a "Test Tube Baby", Louise Brown, occurred in 1978. Louise Brown was born as a result of natural cycle IVF.Dr. Robert Edwards holds the world's first "test-tube baby," Louise Brown, on July 25, 1978. A midwife stands in the center, with gynecologist Patrick Steptoe on the right.

• A colloquial term for babies conceived as the result of IVF, "test tube babies", refers to the tube-shaped containers of glass or plastic resin, called test tubes, that are commonly used in chemistry labs and biology labs

• Rober G Edwards,the physiologist who developed the treatment, was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine