Glossary
ART (assisted reproductive technology) - All treatments or procedures that involve surgically removing eggs from a woman's ovaries and combining the eggs with sperm to help a woman become pregnant.
Aspiration-The Egg aspiration procedure is performed to remove the eggs from the ovaries
Canceled cycle - An ART cycle in which ovarian stimulation was carried out but which was stopped before eggs were retrieved.
Egg - The female reproductive cell, also called an oocyte.
Egg retrieval - A procedure to collect the eggs contained in the ovarian follicles.
Embryo transfer - Placement of embryos into a woman's uterus through the cervix after in vitro fertilization.
Fertilization - The penetration of the egg by the sperm resulting in an embryo that has genetic material from the egg donor and the sperm donor.
Follicle - A structure in the ovaries that contains a developing egg.
Gestation - The period of time from conception to birth.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) - An ART procedure that involves removing eggs from a woman's ovaries and fertilizing them outside her body. The resulting embryos are then transferred into a woman's uterus through the cervix.
Miscarriage - A pregnancy ending in the spontaneous loss of the embryo or fetus before 20 weeks of gestation.
Multifetal pregnancy reduction - A procedure used to decrease the number of fetuses a woman carries to improve the chances that the remaining fetuses will develop into healthy infants.
Oocyte - The female reproductive cell, also called an egg.
Ovarian stimulation - The use of drugs to stimulate the ovaries to develop follicles and eggs.
Sperm - The male reproductive cell.
Ultrasound - A technique used in ART for visualizing the follicles in the ovaries and the gestational sac or fetus in the uterus.
Source: CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health
