In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a fertility treatment method that fertilizes an egg outside of the woman’s body. This process usually begins with a doctor prescribing the female patient certain hormones or drugs that will help her produce multiple eggs; these eggs are then removed and mixed with the male partner’s sperm in a laboratory.
After these eggs are fertilized, the newly created embryos remain in the lab for a few days to grow. Then, doctors will transfer one or more of these embryos back into the woman’s uterus. A simple pregnancy test conducted a few weeks later will determine if the IVF treatment was successful and a viable pregnancy was produced.