GIFT is an assisted reproductive procedure which involves removing a woman's eggs, mixing them with sperm and immediately placing them into a fallopian tube. One of the main differences between this procedure and the in vitro fertilization (IVF) and zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) procedures is that the fertilization process takes place inside the fallopian tube rather than in a laboratory. However, healthy tubes are necessary for GIFT to work.

The GIFT procedure involves the following:

A woman's ovaries are stimulated with medications to increase the probability of producing multiple eggs. The eggs are then collected through an aspiration procedure.

The best quality eggs are immediately mixed with mobile sperm and placed in a special catheter. This mixture of eggs and sperm are transferred to the woman through a laparoscopic procedure by placing a catheter in the fallopian tube and injecting the egg/sperm mixture. The last step is to watch for early pregnancy symptoms. Your fertility specialist will probably use a blood test to determine if pregnancy has occurred.

Recovery time: N/A