How In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Works

Infertility affects up to one in eight couples worldwide. As a result, the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) has increased over the past forty years and can help people dealing with infertility, single parents, and same-sex couples.

Note: This video does not address the serious problems that result from the drive for profit and lack of regulation of IVF. These issues include risks to egg donors, risks of implanting multiple embryos, and higher rates of chronic illness and disability among IVF offspring. Bringing reproductive justice to assisted reproduction technologies is a priority area of advocacy for Our Bodies Ourselves.

To increase the odds of success, which are as high as 40% for a woman younger than 35, doctors sometimes transfer multiple embryos at once, which is why IVF results in twins and triplets more often than natural pregnancies. However, most clinics seek to minimize the chances of multiple pregnancies, as they are riskier for mothers and babies.

SOURCE: TED-Ed • AUTHOR: Nassim Assefi and Brian A. Levine • LAST UPDATED: May 7, 2015