Considered the most invasive of all fertility treatments, zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) is the choice of less than one percent of people who turn to assisted reproductive technology (ART). Still, the method can work well for some couples — about 240 ZIFT babies are born each year in the United States.
Is ZIFT for you?
Your doctor may suggest ZIFT if your fallopian tubes are open and other methods of treatment have been unsuccessful, you have ovulation problems, or your partner has a low sperm count. But if his sperm count's really low, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) will be used in conjunction with ZIFT.
This procedure is similar to GIFT. The main difference is that your eggs are fertilized in a laboratory before they're inserted into your fallopian tubes.
Near the beginning of your menstrual cycle, you'll take a fertility drug that stimulates your ovaries to develop several mature eggs for fertilization. (You normally release only one egg a month.) You may also have to take a synthetic hormone, either a GnRH agonist, such as Lupron, Synarel, or Zoladex, or an antagonist, such as Ganerelix or Cetrotide, to keep your body from releasing your eggs too early.
You'll visit your doctor's office or clinic often so she can monitor your eggs as they mature by performing ultrasounds and checking your blood hormone levels. Once your eggs are mature, your doctor will give you an anesthetic and remove them from your ovaries by inserting a needle through your vaginal wall, using an ultrasound to find your eggs. Your doctor will then combine your eggs with your partner's sperm in a dish in a laboratory and monitor them closely to make sure fertilization occurs.
About a day later, each of your fertilized eggs will be a ball of cells — a developing embryo called a zygote — and you'll have minor surgery. Your doctor will insert one to four zygotes into your fallopian tubes through a small incision in your abdomen, using a fiber-thin tube called a laparoscope. Extra zygotes, if there are any, may be frozen in case this cycle doesn't succeed.
If the treatment works, a zygote will travel through your fallopian tube and implant itself in your uterus, where it will grow into a baby. In about 35 percent of ZIFT pregnancies, more than one embryo implants and women give birth to multiples.
You'll be able to take a pregnancy test about two weeks after you have surgery.