In ART procedures eggs are removed from the woman's ovaries by laparoscopy or a vaginal ultrasound probe. If the eggs are retrieved by laparoscopy the patient is administered either a general or epidural anesthetic. The general anesthetic puts the patient to sleep with drugs or gas, however the epidural anesthetic is more preferred by doctors. The epidural is injected into a space near the spinal cord and numbs the patient from the ribcage down. Small incisions are made for a telescope and other instruments to remove the eggs from the follicles, which are cavities in the ovaries containing mature eggs (Anderson 331). After all the eggs are removed from the follicles the incisions are closed with small stitches or paper strips. Because complications may occur with laparoscopy "bleeding, infection, organ injury, and reactions to the anesthetics "as with any other surgical procedure, doctors began to use a new less risk method of egg retrieval.
Before the vaginal ultrasound probe procedure the patient is administered Demerol and Valium (Wisot and Meldrum 103). The patient is positioned as if she was having a pelvic examination and the vaginal area is thoroughly cleaned. Then the probe is placed in the vagina and guides the needle to the follicles. Each follicle is aspirated similar to the laparoscopic procedure. After all the eggs are removed the patient is observed for a small period of time before going home. To increase the chances of pregnancy, women who decide to go through any ART procedure take fertility drugs so that more than one egg matures at a time.
After the retrieval, a sperm sample is collected from the husband by masturbation. Roughly 50,000-100,000 sperm is added to the dish containing each egg and they are left to fertilize (Jarrett and Rausch 127). After the eggs are fertilized they are left for two days to divide. After the fertilized egg has divided it is called an embryo.