In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) involves fertilising an egg with sperm outside the woman's body in a laboratory setting. The procedure typically consists of the following steps.

The woman undergoes hormonal treatment to stimulate her ovaries, producing multiple eggs.

The eggs are retrieved from the ovaries using a minor surgical procedure under sedation or anaesthesia.

The male partner provides a semen sample, then prepared in the lab to isolate healthy and motile sperm.
 

The retrieved eggs are fertilized with the sperm through conventional IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where a single sperm is injected into each egg.

The fertilised eggs develop into embryos over several days under carefully controlled laboratory conditions.