in vitro fertilization

Click a letter for the index

Or search the encyclopaedia:

 

 

Go

 

Allowing eggs and sperm to unite in a laboratory to form embryos. The embryos (properly called pre-embryos in their two- to eight-celled state) are stored by cooling to the temperature of liquid air (cryopreservation) until they are implanted into the womb of the otherwise infertile mother (an extension of artificial insemination). The first baby to be produced by this method was Louise Joy Brown, born in 1978 at Oldham General Hospital, Lancashire, UK. In cases where the Fallopian tubes are blocked, fertilization may be carried out by intra-vaginal culture, in which egg and sperm are incubated (in a plastic tube) in the mother's vagina, then transferred surgically into the uterus.

The flags of Qatar and Bahrain are very similar, reflecting the countries' historical links. The proportions of the Qatari flag are unique. Effective date: c. 1949. >>