Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTS)

Among the methods used to treat infertility as illustrated below, three methods (IVF, ZIFT, and ICSI) artificially induce the union of sperm and egg in the laboratory before implanting the fertilized egg inside the female reproductive system. The fourth method (GIFT) mixes unfertilized eggs and sperm in the laboratory before transferring them to the Fallopian tube, where fertilization takes place naturally

The best known of these is in vitro fertilization (IVF), which involves the mixing of sperm and egg in the laboratory to trigger fertilization outside the human body. In IVF, hormone treatments are given to the female in order to produce multiple eggs. These eggs are removed from the female during an outpatient procedure, then taken to a laboratory and mixed with specially treated semen in a petri dish. The egg and semen mixture is incubated for several days to fertilize. After fertilization takes place, the zygote (fertilized egg) is usually allowed to develop for several more days outside the body and is then introduced into the woman’s uterus. After placement in the uterus, the zygote follows the course of normal pregnancy.

Other ARTS are variations on the technology of in vitro fertilization. The choice of one technology over another depends on the specific needs of the couple. Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) involves taking the ova and sperm and introducing them directly to the fallopian tube before fertilization has occurred. Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) is similar, except that fertilization has already taken place in the lab and an actual embryo is placed in the fallopian tube. One recent development in ART is intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In this procedure a single viable sperm is extracted from a sperm sample and injected into an egg; this allows men with extremely low sperm counts to become fathers. Further advances in ART are expected from the quickly evolving fields of genetics and biotechnology.