What are the Assisted Reproductive Techniques practised to help infertile couples? Describe any three techniques.

Inability to conceive or produce children even after unprotected coitus is called infertility.

ART – Assisted Reproductive Technology is collection of special techniques (like Test Tube Baby Programme, ZIFT, IUT, GIFT, ICSI, etc) to overcome infertility.

The primary aim of the “Assisted Reproductive Technology” (ART) programme is to help infertile couples have children.

i. Test Tube Baby Programme

IVF – In Vitro Fertilisation is fertilisation outside body in same condition as it would happen inside the body.

IVF is also known as test tube baby programme.

In this method the gametes from the male (sperm) and female (ova) are collected hygienically and allowed to fuse (to form a zygote) in a laboratory set up under simulated conditions.

The zygote formed is collected and is introduced into the uterine region of a host or surrogate mother at an appropriate time (secretory phase).

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) followed by embryo transfer (ET) is a method to treat infertility and commonly known as the ‘Test tube baby’ programme.

If the zygote or early embryos (up to 8 blastomeres) is transferred into fallopian tube it is known as ZIFT (Zygote Intra Fallopian Transfer)

And if the embryos with more than 8 blastomeres is transferred into uterus then it is known as IUT (Intra Uterine Transfer

After ET further development takes place.

ii. GIFT - Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer

GIFT is transfer of an ovum collected from a donor into the fallopian tube of another female who cannot produce an ovum, but can provide suitable environment for fertilisation and further development of the embryo takes place here.

iii. ICSI – Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection

ICSI is one of the specialised procedures to form an embryo in the laboratory in which a sperm is directly injected into the ovum.

iv. AI Technique

This technique is mostly for infertile males. That is when male is unable to inseminate sperms in the female reproductive tract or due to very low sperm count in the ejaculation.

In this technique, the semen collected either from the husband or a healthy donor is artificially introduced, either into the vagina or into the uterus (IUI-Intra Uterine Insemination) of the female.