ABSTRACT
The correct treatment of female infertility depends upon a correct diagnosis. The primary cause may lie in the woman’s inability to ovulate. This may be untreatable; on the other hand, it may result from hormonal deficiencies which can be restored by substitution. Tubal insufficiency which cannot be treated medically or surgically can be circumvented through the dual processes of in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer which are basic to many of the assisted reproductive techniques. Gamete intrafallopian transfer technique (GIFT) can be used as an alternative either to in vitro fertilisation or to ovum or embryo donation, depending upon the origin of the gametes. It has both technical and economic advantages over the standard methods of reproductive assistance, but it also has disadvantages. The major disadvantage of GIFT is that the fact of successful fertilisation can only be proved by the fact of pregnancy.
