in vitro fertilization

noun

a specialized technique by which an ovum, especially a human one, is fertilized by sperm outside the body, with the resulting embryo later implanted in the uterus for gestation.

noun

a technique enabling some women who are unable to conceive to bear children. Egg cells removed from a woman's ovary are fertilized by sperm in vitro; some of the resulting fertilized egg cells are incubated until the blastocyst stage, which are then implanted into her uterus IVF

in vitro fertilization

Fertilization of an egg outside the body of a female by the addition of sperm, as a means of producing a zygote.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of in vitro fertilization¹

First recorded in 1970–75

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

An aid-worker for LGBTQ+ youth on a ticking-clock quest to bear children of her own, Lee has endured two wrenching rounds of in vitro fertilization and, just as painfully, her partner’s ambivalence about having kids at all.

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After nearly two years of in vitro fertilization treatment, the Okulas announced their pregnancy by posting a video on Hailey’s popular “Rn New Grads” Instagram account in September 2024.

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After he and his wife had difficulties conceiving their first child, they finally found success in 2023 through In Vitro Fertilization, commonly known as IVF.

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But they’re part of a longer plan to normalize the legal recognition of fetal rights in areas unrelated to abortion or in vitro fertilization.

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That’s part of the reason we’ve seen a push to restrict or prohibit in vitro fertilization—or at least the destruction of additional embryos created through IVF.

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in vitro in vivo

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