Is there any difference between Test Tube Baby and IVF Baby?

In India, about 10-15% of married couples suffer from infertility. Out of 30 million infertile couples, nearly three million are actively seeking treatment. The rate is even higher in the urban population where one out of six couples suffers from infertility and desperately looks for solutions. As a cure for this, they can resort to various forms of infertility treatment out of which In Vitro Fertilization is one of them with high success rates and can give birth to a baby.

What is it exactly, how is it different from test tube baby, and what are the steps to follow? We will tell you more in our article.

Difference between In vitro fertilization & Test Tube Baby Process

There is no difference between IVF and test tube baby. The term test tube baby is a non-medical term used decades ago while nowadays, the more commonly used term is IVF.

Similarly, IVF and test-tube babies are also the same with no difference at all.

Difference between IVF or Test Tube Baby

The in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique consists of fertilizing the ovum outside the mother’s body to place it later in the uterus. It is a complex procedure and, in general, it is used when other methods of treatment have failed or cannot be applied.

In this process, the oocytes are extracted from the maternal ovaries followed by their fertilization by the sperm in a liquid medium. Once the zygote (fertilized oocyte) is formed and has grown to blastocyst, it is transferred to the woman’s uterus to start the pregnancy. Hence, there is no difference between IVF and Test Tube baby.

What is Test Tube Baby Process ?

To perform IVF, a more intense ovarian stimulation process is performed than that performed in most cases of artificial insemination. The goal is to develop several follicles.

When the follicles are mature, the specialist administers a hormone called HCG, in order to finish maturation for the oocyte. After about 36 hours, your Doctor performs a follicular puncture, a process by which the eggs are extracted.

The follicular puncture is a relatively simple surgical technique. It includes a little sedation and is therefore painless. In general, it does not last more than 30 minutes. Using a vaginal transducer, the doctor guides a needle -which can be clearly seen on ultrasound-, with which he/she punctures each follicle and aspirates the follicular fluid. This liquid is then analyzed in the laboratory to establish the number of eggs obtained.

The next step is the fundamental one: each one of the ovum/egg is put in contact with the spermatozoa in individualized cultures. Finally, the embryos obtained are transferred to the woman’s uterus.

What is Test Tube Baby?

Due to scientific advances, the latest technology, and improved laboratory conditions, the success of in vitro fertilization has increased dramatically in recent years. Currently, the chances that an infertile couple will conceive a baby after an IVF process are 1 in 5, similar to that of a healthy couple of conceiving naturally. Success depends on a number of factors, including the age of the patient, patient’s medical history, previous surgeries, IVF center, and their success rates, etc.

Test Tube Baby Cost

The Test tube baby cost in India or anywhere else in the world is primarily dependent on your infertility workup. Hence, it varies from person to person. If your friend, relative or colleague was lucky enough to have a baby by going through 2 IVF cycles, you may be fortunate by conceiving in one IVF cycle itself. Or perhaps a simple laparoscopy procedure might be enough to cure your infertility.

The IVF treatment cost at Indira IVF normally ranges between 1.5 to 1.8 Lakh per cycle.

1978, the year of the beginning of in vitro fertilization

Children born using this technique are called “test tube babies” or “IVF babies.” The first of them, named Louis Brown, was born on July 25, 1978, in Oldham, England.

After her birth, there were multiple studies to determine that this condition was normal and to confirm that IVF was as safe a method of fertilization as natural.

Louis’s parents resorted to this technique again four years later and had another girl, Natalie, who in 1999 became the first “test tube baby” to naturally give birth to a baby boy.