WATCH: What is Assisted Reproductive Technology?

Jennifer J. Hostetter answers:

Assisted Reproductive Technology is the term used to describe various medical procedures that are used to assist people in creating their families. The most commonly used term is IVF or in vitro fertilization.

In Vitro Fertilization is a procedure whereby a man’s sperm and a woman’s egg are combined outside of the body in a laboratory dish. The embryos are then transferred into a woman’s uterus. The embryo can be transferred into the woman’s body or a gestational carrier’s or surrogate’s body. Any embryos remaining after the embryo transfer may be cryopreserved (or frozen) for future use.

Another common term is egg or embryo donation. This procedure allows a person to obtain a donated egg or embryo with the ultimate goal being the use of IVF to obtain a pregnancy.
Other procedures and terms include gamete intrafallopian transfer, pronuclear stage tubal transfer, tubal embryo transfer, embryo biopsy, preimplantation genetic testing, and zygote intrafallopian transfer.