2003 AIPMT Reproductive HealthAssisted Reproductive Technologies: IVF Easy Question 62 of 65 in Reproductive Health

Test tube baby means a baby born when

A It is developed in a test tube
B It is developed through tissue culture method
C The ovum is fertilised externally and thereafter implanted in the uterus
D It develops from a non-fertilized egg

The answer is C.

Solution

In the test tube baby programme (in vitro fertilisation followed by embryo transfer, IVF-ET), ova from the wife or a donor and sperms from the husband or a donor are collected.
Fertilisation takes place outside the body, in the laboratory, under conditions similar to those in the body.
The zygote or early embryo (up to 8 blastomeres) is transferred into the fallopian tube (ZIFT), or embryos of more than 8 cells into the uterus (IUT), where it implants and develops normally until birth.
So the baby does not develop in a test tube; only fertilisation happens outside the body.
So a test tube baby is one born when the ovum is fertilised externally and thereafter implanted in the uterus.

Concept In vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer

Reproductive Health in past papers

65 questions from this chapter have appeared across 20 exam years.