Suggest some methods to assist infertile couples to have children.

Infertility is the inability of a couple to produce a baby even after unprotected intercourse. It might be due to abnormalities present in either male or female, or might be even both the partners. The techniques used to assist infertile couples to have children are as follows.

(a) Test tube babies

This involves in-vitro fertilization where the sperms meet the egg outside the body of a female. The zygote, hence produced, is then transferred in the uterus or fallopian tube of a normal female. The babies produced from this method are known as test tube babies.

(b) Gamete Intra fallopian transfer (GIFT)

It is a technique that involves the transfer of gamete (ovum) from a donor into the fallopian tube of the recipient female who is unable to produce eggs, but has the ability to conceive and can provide right conditions for the development of an embryo.

(c) Intra Cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

It is a method of injecting sperm directly into the ovum to form an embryo in laboratory.

(d) Artificial insemination

Artificial insemination is a method of transferring semen (sperm) from a healthy male donor into the vagina or uterus of the recipient female. It is employed when the male partner is not able to inseminate the female or has low sperm counts.