For most couples, infertility is a very painful experience. With the advancement of medical technology, many reproductive assistance techniques have emerged like mushrooms after rain, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology is among them. Although everyone knows about IVF, they don’t really understand it. Today, I will give a brief introduction to the IVF technology for you.
What is a test-tube baby?
The medical term for “test-tube baby” is “in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer technology”, which refers to the process of artificially combining the eggs and sperm of infertile couples in a laboratory setting to allow for fertilization and early embryo development. Then, the embryos are transplanted into the uterus to achieve pregnancy.
Currently, there are mainly three generations of in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology. The fourth generation of IVF technology has many uncertainties and has not yet achieved a large number of successful cases. Therefore, no further introduction will be provided for it at present.
The first generation of in vitro fertilization technology
This technology is also known as “in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer“, with the English name: IVF-ET. It refers to extracting the woman’s eggs through stimulation, while obtaining the man’s semen. In a laboratory setting, the sperm and eggs are allowed to combine naturally without any intervention measures.
The second-generation in vitro fertilization technology
This technology is also known as “intracytoplasmic sperm injection”, with the English name ICSI. It refers to the process of injecting a single sperm into the cytoplasm of an egg cell, enabling fertilization of the sperm and the egg.
The third-generation in-vitro fertilization technology
This technology is also known as “Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis”, with the English name PGD. Based on the first and second generation IVF procedures, before the fertilized embryos are placed in the uterus, genetic diagnosis is conducted on the embryos to check for chromosomal diseases, and healthy embryos are selected for transplantation.
Many people, when they see generations one, two, and three, tend to think that generation one is better than the others. But in fact, that’s not the case.
In vitro fertilization technology is not getting better from one generation to the next.
Different situations and different groups of people require different types of in vitro fertilization techniques.
Let’s take a simple example. If one of the partners has a genetic disorder, it is recommended to use the third-generation IVF technology. If the woman is infertile, the first-generation IVF technology is suggested. If the man is infertile, the second-generation IVF technology is recommended. The specific type of IVF technology to be used also depends on the actual situation of the couple.
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