Facts About Types Of Assisted Reproductive Treatment.

February 24, 2022Assisted Reproductive Technology3

Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer: Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT) was launched as a more ‘natural’ version of IVF (Assisted Reproductive Treatment). Instead of fertilization occurring in a culture dish in a laboratory, the woman’s eggs are retrieved from her ovaries and inserted between two layers of sperm in fine tubing.

This tubing is then fed into one of the woman’s fallopian tubes, where the egg and sperm are left to fertilize naturally.

GIFT is no longer commonly used. However, it is sometimes used as an option for couples who don’t want to use IVF for religious reasons, providing that the woman’s fallopian tubes are functioning.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI): ICSI is used for the same reasons as IVF (Assisted Reproductive Treatment), but especially to overcome sperm problems. Essentially, ICSI follows the same process like IVF, except ICSI involves the direct injection of a single sperm into each egg to achieve fertilization.

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD): Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is used to reduce the risk or avoid transmission of a genetic disease or chromosomal abnormality.

PGD can be used by couples who have or have a family history of, a genetic disease or chromosomal abnormality that they risk passing on to their children.

PGD is also used for couples who have had repeated miscarriages or repeated IVF (Assisted Reproductive Treatment) failure and also for women of advanced maternal age (generally over 36years).

In PGD, embryos are generated through the process of IVF or ICSI and then one or two cells are removed from the embryo and are screened for a genetic condition.

Embryos unaffected by a particular genetic condition may then be selected for transfer to the woman’s uterus.

What is the preimplantation genetic diagnosis? 

Assisted reproductive treatment clinics perform PGD to reduce the risk of, or to avoid a range of conditions.

Sex selection can be performed only to reduce the risk of transmission of a genetic disease or abnormality to a child.

Sex selection may be performed to reduce the risk of transmission of a disorder linked to an X chromosome (such as Muscular Dystrophy or Haemophilia) or for a condition that occurs more frequently in one sex but where the genetic cause is unknown (example: autism).

Aneuploidy is a term used to describe an abnormality in chromosome number (fewer or more of a specific chromosome). Aneuploidy screening is performed in cases of advanced maternal age, repeated IVF failure, recurrent miscarriage, and previous aneuploidy pregnancy.

If there is a disorder that you are particularly concerned about, contact your ART clinic.

Surrogacy: Surrogacy is a form of ART in which a woman (the surrogate) carries a child for another person or couple with the intention of giving the child to that person or couple after birth.

READ ALSO: Facts About Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection

Are you eligible to have Assisted Reproductive Treatment? 

For a woman to be eligible, a doctor must be satisfied that she is unlikely to become pregnant other than by a treatment procedure; or the woman is unlikely to be able to carry a pregnancy or give birth to a child without a treatment procedure, or the woman is at risk of transmitting a genetic abnormality or genetic disease to a child born as a result of a pregnancy conceived other than by a treatment procedure, including a genetic abnormality or genetic disease for which the woman’s partner is the carrier.