Invitro fertilization is commonly used by couples trying to conceive. But it can be costly and too clinical for some parents who want to conceive together. So now doctors are testing a new, more personal, way to make a baby. 7's Christa Delcamp has the story.
Melissa Bushell and her husband needed some help having a family of their own. But invitro fertilization was expensive and for Melissa, too mechanical. She says, "It really was less the husband and wife and more medical intervention and somebody else handling everything."
In standard IVF, the egg and sperm are joined in the lab, and incubated in a machine designed to replicate the inside of a woman's body.
But for fertility specialist Dr. Randy Morris it isn't the same. He says, "An incubator is just not as efficient in doing it. You're opening and closing doors for instance."
So Dr. Morris is trying something new. He's part of a study exploring the use of a woman's body to incubate the eggs. One benefit will be saving thousands of dollars that would have been paid for lab incubation.
Nine eggs come from Melissa's ovaries, and go into this tiny vial with her husband's sperm. It then goes into a sealed capsule. The capsule incubates for three days inside the hopeful mother.
"I'm carrying my own embryos, they're fertilizing themselves, which was more natural," explains Melissa.
After removing the capsule doctors find what they hoped for: three healthy embryos. They insert two into Melissa's womb.
The procure worked for this couple, they're pregnant. This procedure is still in the trial stages. But the future looks good; French researchers have found this procedure to be just as effective as IVF.
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