In vitro fertilisation (IVF). Doctors Howard and Georgeanna Jones, directors of the Jones Institute in Norfolk, Virginia, with two of their IVF babies. The Jones Institute specialises in in vitro fertilisation. Fertility drugs are given to potential mothers to stimulate the production of several ova, rather than the usual one. The ova are harvested, usually by laparoscopy, and are fertilised in a petri dish using a fresh or frozen sample of the husband's sperm. If fertilisation is successful, embryos are transferred back into the woman's uterus via a catheter inserted through the cervix. 3-4 embryos are often introduced to increase the probability that one will implant.