-By Gayatri Gade

INDEX
 INTRODUCTION
Infertility is the inability to conceive or give birth to a
child. Infertility is on a gradual rise in India. Strange right
since India is among the most populated countries in the
world. However, reports suggest that infertility has
become one of the common problems in India with over
10 to 14 percent of Indian population suffering from the
pain of not having a child. Thanks to latest development
in science and technology now it is possible for any
couple to have a child with assisted reproductive
technology.

ART
 Assisted Reproductive Technology is a number of
different processes for the treatment of infertility. It
helps to own pregnancy in different methods like in
vitro fertilization, surrogacy, and fertility medications.
ART falls into the category of field endocrinology and
cryopreservation, reproductive technology and
infertility treatments, and intra-cytoplasmic sperm
injection (ICSI).
 ART also helps in solving abnormalities due to genetic
issues in the fertile couples. Couples also choose ART
 if they are incongruous to particular communicable
diseases. ART techniques help to reduce the infection
risks at the time of pregnancy, parturition and
lactation.
 The goal of assisted reproductive technology (ART) is
the provision of safe, efficient and affordable care to
optimise the chances of having singleton pregnancies
and the delivery of healthy babies. Recent advances in
ART have focused on the achievement of this goal
through biochemical and genetic research.

INFERTILITY
 In general, infertility is defined as not being able to
get pregnant (conceive) after one year (or longer) of
unprotected sex. Because fertility in women is
known to decline steadily with age, some providers
evaluate and treat women aged 35 years or older
after 6 months of unprotected sex. Women with
infertility should consider making an appointment
with a reproductive endocrinologist—a doctor who
 specializes in managing infertility. Reproductive
endocrinologists may also be able to help women
with recurrent pregnancy loss, defined as having two
or more spontaneous miscarriages.

 CAUSES OF INFERTILITY :-
 India is witnessing a rise in infertility and in the last
five years there is an increase of 20 to 30 percent in
infertility. Infertility affects rural as well as an urban
phenomenon. Moreover, it is just not restricted to
women. Men infertility is equally possible. However,
the social stigma in Indian society is largely ignored
and the women are always blamed for unable to bear
children.
 So it is very important to be educated about infertility
and its causes and how it is possible to solve infertility
with the help of assisted reproductive technology.
There a number of reasons for infertility including
 congenital, drugs, diseases, immunological or
sometimes psychological. A person affected by any of
the above reasons can suffer from infertility.
 Infertility is not an easy condition and is certainly very
difficult to deal and face. However, there are many
ART treatments available that help to deal with this
situation and solve it.

Types of Assisted
Reproductive
Technologies (ART)

ZIFT IUI
IVF ET GIFT ICSI

I. IN-VITRO FERTILISATION
 In vitro fertilization is the most commonly used assisted
reproductive technologies (ART). In vitro fertilization, as
its name-fertilization is done by fusing ova from female
donor and sperm from the male donor outside the body
under strict laboratory conditions. This results in a zygote
or famously known as a test-tube baby. After the embryo
culturing, an embryo is transferred to the uterus of the
mother. This method is commonly performed in case of
women with damaged or clogged Fallopian tubes.

II.EMBRYO TRANSFER
Embryo transfer consists of depositing the
embryos generated in the laboratory in the
woman's uterus, waiting for them to implant and
give rise to a pregnancy. Normally, the embryo
transfer is carried out in a room attached to the
laboratory to avoid risks in the handling and
transport of the embryos.
III.ZYGOTE INTRAFALLOPIAN
TRANSFER [ZIFT]
In this method ova from the wife/donor (female) and
sperms from the husband/donor (male) are collected
and are induced to form zygote under simulated
conditions in the laboratory. ZIFT (Zygote Intra
Fallopian Transfer): The zygote or early embryos (up
to 8 blastomeres) could then be transferred into the
fallopian-tube.

IV.INTRA UTERINE INSEMINATION [IUI]

Intrauterine Insemination is the process of transfer of a
man’s sperm into a woman’s uterus with the help of a
long narrow tube. Moreover, it is possible to apply this
method in combination with stimulation of ovulation.
Together the processes can sometimes increase the
chances of pregnancy.

The success rate of this technique completely depends

upon the reason of infertility. Additionally, it is possible
to increase the success rate of this method by nearly 20
percent if the inseminations take place on a monthly
basis with fresh or frozen sperms. However, the
increase of success rate depends upon woman’s age,
fertility medications, infertility diagnosis and many
other reasons.

V.GAMETE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER

[GIFT]
Earlier before the advancement of technology, Gamete
Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT) was very common for
couples having infertility issues. In this method, eggs
from woman and sperms from man undergo
combination by employing laboratory techniques in the
lab.

Later, the eggs are implanted in the fallopian tube of the

female. The fertilization occurs inside the body of the
women by applying GIFT treatments and not in the lab.
Couples who want a natural treatment so that the
fertilization and implantation process occurs inside the
woman’s body opt for this form of assisted reproductive
technology.

VI.INTRA CYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION

[ICSI]

It is a special form of in vitro fertilization technique that

helps in the formation of an embryo in the man by direct
injection of the sperm into the egg/ovum. In this
technique, it is possible to directly inject a single sperm
cell into the cytoplasm of the ova. This technique helps
in the preparation of gametes and formation of embryos
which is finally transferred into the uterus of the
woman.